Kara Dunn is the veteran leader and offensive threat USC needs

When they snapped out of the streak this weekend with a statement win against Purdue, they could again point to Dunn, who led the team with 29 points, her season high. 

Dunn has always been a steady scorer. In her three seasons at Georgia Tech, she averaged 7.6 points per games as a freshman, and then 15.5 games as both a sophomore and junior. She increased her shooting percentage from 42.9% as a freshman to 49.3% as a junior, nearly doubling the number of shots she took per game. She led an ACC team that sometimes struggled to find wins, but consistently put up strong fights against ranked teams like NC State, Louisville, Florida State, and Notre Dame. She’s no stranger to elite competition. 

When Dunn arrived in Los Angeles, she brought with her an All-ACC First Team resume, and USC Head Coach Lindsay Gottlieb called her “a proven all-around player at an elite level” when she announced Dunn’s signing. “Quite simply, she’s a winning player that we targeted immediately as one of the top players in the portal.”  

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Notably, USC has a star in freshman Jazzy Davidson, who has proven herself as the athletic, long, and versatile player she was touted to be. But Davidson has moments where her inexperience has shown – like her second half performance against Maryland where she scored zero points after having 12 in the first quarter. In those moments, Dunn has shown her maturity, poise, and experience, stepping into the role as USC’s offensive engine. She had to do even more in the absence of Kennedy Smith, a key element of USC’s offense who was sidelined with a lower leg injury for the losses to UCLA, Oregon, and Minnesota. 

“With Kennedy out, the whole team knew that we need to step up in a lot of areas, because she’s such a versatile player,” Dunn told media following the loss to Maryland. “For me, when my number was called, it’s not something that I’m not used to. I’ve been in scoring positions on other teams as well.”

In conversation with The IX Basketball, Dunn expanded: “I feel like in these past few games, I’ve really had to step up and be more aggressive for my team and also for myself. […] My team needs me to be at my best for us to succeed.” She added that while she appreciated that Coach Gottlieb asked her to step up and be more aggressive, that she valued that her coach didn’t ask her to try to fill any other players’ void, and to just be “the best version of herself.” 

Dunn’s ability to catch and shoot from deep (she’s increased her three point percentage from 35 last year to 39 this year, and leads USC), attack closeouts, and finish through contact. She’s notably averaging almost two offensive rebounds per game as a guard. She’s a multi-threat player with an excellent motor. 

“KD was really, you know, cooking around the basket, and we know she’s a three point threat as well, so we’re trying to play off of that, and that opens things up for other people,” Gottlieb said after the Maryland loss. 

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Coming into a team where the talent is young, the star is out for the season, and you’re a veteran leader is not an easy feat. But Dunn has found her footing as a leader that both leads by example as well as vocally – something that doesn’t always come naturally for players navigating new programs and new teammates. 

USC sits at 11-7 overall and 3-4 in Big Ten play after the Purdue win. The Trojans fell out of the AP Top 25 for the first time since JuJu Watkins’ arrival, and national commentary has slowed. 

But Dunn isn’t buying it.

“[The season] isn’t going exactly how we thought it would, but it’s not a new position for me, per se. I’ve been on teams where we’re trying to dig ourselves out of something. We’re trying to prove something, not only to like our fans, the people supporting us, but also like to ourselves,” Dunn said before the Purdue game, reflecting on the recent skid and USC’s departure from the top 25. “So I’m not like losing my mind. I’m trying to make sure that the whole team is just thinking forward and, like, staying hopeful, we stay together.”  

For Dunn, the move to USC required some element of adjustment, despite slotting in fairly quickly with Davidson and the rest of the lineup. “We have a lot of offensive threats, we have so many different people that can score,” Dunn said. “And so just trying to make sure that I’m being myself for this team and exactly what Coach Lindsay wanted me to be, but also not putting too much pressure myself.” 

When asked what drew her to USC, Dunn shared that she was promised an opportunity to be more versatile, to play quickly, and to play in multiple positions. But she also wanted to join what she calls a “winning culture,” to be around people that would help her grow her game, and improve her chances to play professionally. And while the winning part may not be quite where she wanted it to be, she’s felt that the team camaraderie, closeness, and family mentality has kept them from feeling as down as they could. 

One element of that is Dunn’s growth as a vocal leader, something she says she’s still getting used to. 

“This year, I’ve really stepped up with being a vocal leader, [more] than I have been in past years for my team,” she said. “And me being in this position is helping me, like, just even be better at that. And like, also just connecting with people, trying to understand peoples’  tendencies, like me and Jazzy. I feel like our connection has grown so much in these past few games, we’re talking to each other before the game, after game, […] what we can do better in the middle of the game, how we can help our other teammates be confident.” 

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Davidson, who leads the Trojans in scoring currently with 16 points per game, has been Dunn’s co-offensive threat not only through this January stretch, but all season. Together, you watch two players in unique situations: an elite freshman who is playing in a role she may not have expected given Watkins’ absence, and a veteran leader stepping into a new system and seeing fewer notches in the win column than she may have expected. But together, they’re showing a level of resilience that gives USC something to build on not only for the remainder of this season, but next. 

“I really feel like we’re learning necessary things that if we were just winning, we probably would have brushed over,” she said. “I think that is going to help us be stronger. And I really feel like a good turning point is coming for our team.”