LOS ANGELES — There weren’t any double-digit deficits to worry about or big fourth-quarter comebacks needed. This was another defeat of a nationally ranked team to add to USC’s accomplishments this season.

But that’s not to say there weren’t moments of anxiety for the fourth-ranked USC women’s basketball team on Wednesday night in dispatching No. 22 Michigan State, 83-75, at the Galen Center.

The Trojans (24-2 overall, 14-1 Big Ten) held off a fourth-quarter push by the Spartans (19-7, 9-6) to extend their winning streak to five games.

It was the kind of game USC needed after back-to-back emotional contests against crosstown rival UCLA and Washington.

USC faces No. 25 Illinois on Sunday, its eighth ranked opponent this season. The Trojans are 6-1 in those games, having lost to then-No. 20 Mississippi in November.

There was a hold-your-breath moment late in the first quarter when USC’s all-everything guard Juju Watkins went down after colliding with a Michigan State player while going up for a layup. Watkins remained down on the court for several seconds before heading to the locker room while holding her neck.

She emerged a short time later and continued her assault on the Spartans, showing no effects of her fall. She finished with 28 points on 10-of-23 shooting, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocked shots.

Kiki Iriafen added 24 points, 15 in the second half. She shot 7 for 13 from the field and 10 for 12 from the free-throw line to go with 10 rebounds.

Center Rayah Marshall added eight points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

Grace VanSlooten tied a career high with 29 points and grabbed six rebounds, and Julia Ayrault had 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead Michigan State. But the Spartans shot just 1 for 13 from 3-point range as a team (compared to USC’s 5-of-15 showing).

The Trojans extended their 10-point halftime lead to 21 points late in the third quarter.

The Spartans, however, capitalized on a series of turnovers and missed shots by USC to make a run in the fourth. Michigan State’s Theryn Hallock scored a layup off of one of those turnovers to trim the margin to 72-62 with 6:02 left.

After Aryault made a free throw, Nyla Hampton scored off another USC turnover to cap a 7-0 run and cut the lead to 72-65 with 4:54 left. MSU got within 74-68 when VanSlooten’s layup capped a 15-4 run with 4:01 left, but Kennedy Smith’s jumper, followed by Watkins’ fast-break layup with 2:51 left helped the Trojans re-establish a double-digit lead.

With the win, USC clinched a double-bye in next month’s Big Ten tournament. They remain in first place in the conference with two regular-season games left.