2023–24 USC Trojans women's basketball team

2023–24 USC Trojans women's basketball
NCAA tournament, Elite Eight
ConferencePac-12 Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 6
APNo. 5
Record29–6 (13–5 Pac-12)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Beth Burns (2nd season)
  • Wendale Farrow (3rd season)
  • Willnett Crockett (1st season)
  • Courtney Jaco (1st season)
Home arenaGalen Center
Seasons
2023–24 Pac-12 Conference women's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 9 Stanford 15 – 3   .833 30 – 6   .833
No. 5 USC † 13 – 5   .722 29 – 6   .829
No. 10 UCLA 13 – 5   .722 27 – 7   .794
No. 8 Oregon State 12 – 6   .667 27 – 8   .771
No. 15 Colorado 11 – 7   .611 24 – 10   .706
No. 22 Utah 11 – 7   .611 23 – 11   .676
Arizona 8 – 10   .444 18 – 16   .529
California 7 – 11   .389 19 – 15   .559
Washington State 7 – 11   .389 21 – 15   .583
Washington 6 – 12   .333 16 – 15   .516
Arizona State 3 – 15   .167 11 – 20   .355
Oregon 2 – 16   .111 11 – 21   .344
† 2024 Pac-12 tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll


The 2023–24 USC Trojans women's basketball team represented the University of Southern California during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Trojans played their home games at the Galen Center and were members of the Pac-12 Conference. This was the last year the team played in the Pac-12 as they are slated to join the Big Ten Conference. The squad was led by third-year head coach Lindsay Gottlieb. The Trojans finished as 2024 Pac-12 Conference women's basketball tournament champions and made it to the Elite 8. They finished the season with a No. 5 AP ranking and a No. 6 ranking in the Coaches' poll.

USC started off ranked No. 21 in the preseason rankings in both the AP and Coaches Polls. For the final regular season AP poll, they finished in 5th. Although they were picked to finished 6th by the last-ever Pac-12 coaches poll, the team finished tied for second. They earned the 2-seed in the Pac-12 tournament as they held the second tiebreaker over UCLA. In the 2024 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, they earned a 1-seed for the first time since 1986.

Previous season

The Women of Troy finished the regular Pac-12 season tied for 4th with UCLA and Arizona. Because both of those teams held tiebreakers over USC, the Trojans earned the 6th seed in the 2023 Pac-12 Conference women's basketball tournament.

The squad earned its first bid for the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament since 2014.[1] and its first at-large bid since 2006. Holding an 8-seed in the 2023 NCAA tournament, the Women of Troy fell in overtime in the first round to 9-seeded South Dakota State, 57-62.

Last year's team spent much of the season receiving votes in both polls and made the top 25 once in the AP Poll. In the last AP Poll, they received 3 votes while they no longer received any votes in the final two coaches' polls.[2]

Offseason changes

The Women of Troy brought in 2 first-years out of high school, 1 transfer student, and 4 graduate students. 1 student who red-shirted last year is also expected to play this coming season. 6 players from the previous year graduated while 1 transferred and 1 retired.

Regarding coaching staff, Women of Troy alumna Courtney Jaco, who previously served as Director of Player Development and who as a player won the 2014 Pac-12 tournament to qualify for the NCAA tournament, was promoted to Assistant Coach.[3] Wilnett Crockett also joined the coaching staff as an Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator. Meanwhile, Nneka Enemkpali joined the Rutgers coaching staff during the off-season.[4]

Departures

Name Number Pos. Height Year Hometown Reason for Departure
Koi Love 0 F 6'0" Junior Orlando, FL Retired
Destiny Littleton 11 G 5'9" Graduate Student San Diego, CA Graduated
Bella Perkins 12 F 5'9" Sophomore Fairfax, VA Transferred to Pittsburgh
Madison Campbell 23 G 5'11" RS Junior Fresno, CA Retired for Medical Reasons
Okako Adika 24 G/F 6'0" Graduate Student Holstebro, DK Graduated
Alyson Miura 25 G 5'9" Senior Clackamas, OR Graduated
Kadi Sissoko 30 F 6'2" Graduate Student Paris, FR Graduated
Rokia Doumbia 52 G 5'9" Graduate Student Bamako, ML Graduated

Incoming transfers

Name Num Pos. Height Year Hometown Previous School
McKenzie Forbes[5] 0 W 6'0" Graduate Transfer Folsom, CA Harvard
Dominique Onu[6] 23 G 5'9" Junior Los Angeles, CA UCLA
Kaitlyn Davis[7] 24 G/F 6'0" Graduate Transfer Norwalk, CT Columbia
Roxane Makolo 24 G 5'10" Graduate Transfer Saint-Hubert, QC, CA Purdue
Kayla Padilla[8] 45 G 5'9" Graduate Transfer Torrance, CA Penn

2023 recruiting class

Source:[9]

Name Overall Rank Position Position Rank Hometown High School Height ESPN Stars ESPN Grade
JuJu Watkins 1 PG/SG 1 Los Angeles, CA Sierra Canyon 6'0" 5 98
Malia Samuels - G - Seattle, WA Garfield HS 5'6" 4 94

The Women of Troy brought in the tenth-ranked recruiting class in the country.[10] The incoming squad featured top-ranked high school recruit JuJu Watkins and 49th-ranked Malia Samuels.[11] Redshirt first-year Aaliyah Gayles also played periodically after having sat out the previous season due to injury.[12] Gayles, ranked No. 8 in the country for the class of 2022, was recruited by previous head coach Mark Trakh[13]

Roster

2023–24 USC Trojans women's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown
G 1 Taylor Bigby 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Jr Oregon Las Vegas, NV
G 2 India Otto (W) 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) GS Windward School Los Angeles, CA
G 3 Aaliyah Gayles Injured 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) RS Fr Spring Valley HS Las Vegas, NV
G 4 Kayla Williams 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Sr UC Irvine Los Angeles, CA
G 10 Malia Samuels 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Fr Garfield HS Seattle, WA
G 12 JuJu Watkins 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Fr Sierra Canyon Los Angeles, CA
G/F 13 Rayah Marshall 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Jr Lynwood HS Los Angeles, CA
G 23 Dominique Onu 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) RS Jr UCLA Los Angeles, CA
G 24 Kaitlyn Davis 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) GS Columbia Norwalk, CT
G 25 McKenzie Forbes 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) GS Harvard Folsom, CA
G 30 Roxane Makolo 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) GS Purdue Quebec, CA
C 32 Clarice Akunwafo 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) Jr Rolling Hills Prep Inglewood, CA
G 45 Kayla Padilla 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) GS Penn Torrance, CA
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: November 7, 2023

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Site
city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 6, 2023*
11:00 a.m., TruTV 		No. 21 vs. No. 7 Ohio State
Hall of Fame Series Las Vegas 		W 83–74  1–0
  32 – Watkins   17 – Marshall   5 – Watkins  T-Mobile Arena 
Paradise, NV
November 10, 2023*
7:00 p.m. 		No. 21 Florida Gulf Coast W 67–51  2–0
  18 – Tied   7 – Tied   6 – Forbes  Galen Center (4,712)
Los Angeles, CA
November 13, 2023*
5:30 p.m. 		No. 10 Le Moyne W 93–43  3–0
  35 – Watkins   9 – Watkins   5 – Forbes  Galen Center (1,009)
Los Angeles, CA
November 20, 2023*
6:00 p.m., FloHoops 		No. 8 vs. Seton Hall
Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Championship 		W 64–54  4–0
  15 – Watkins   15 – Marshall   3 – Tied  Baha Mar Convention Center (409)
Nassau, Bahamas
November 22, 2023*
6:00 p.m., FloHoops 		No. 8 vs. Penn State
Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Championship 		W 71–70  5–0
  31 – Watkins   12 – Watkins   3 – Watkins  Baha Mar Convention Center (297)
Nassau, Bahamas
November 28, 2023*
7:00 p.m. 		No. 6 Cal Poly W 85–44  6–0
  30 – Watkins   8 – Akunwafo   6 – Padilla  Galen Center (1,419)
Los Angeles, CA
December 3, 2023*
3:00 p.m. 		No. 6 San Diego W 89–58  7–0
  30 – Watkins   12 – Marshall   6 – Padilla  Galen Center (2,169)
Los Angeles, CA
December 10, 2023*
3:30 p.m. 		No. 6 UC Riverside W 85–53  8–0
  27 – Watkins   12 – Marshall   5 – Tied  Galen Center (4,201)
Los Angeles, CA
December 18, 2023*
7:00 p.m., P12N 		No. 6 Cal State Fullerton W 93–44  9–0
  23 – Watkins   6 – Tied   6 – Watkins  Galen Center (1,962)
Los Angeles, CA
December 21, 2023*
2:00 p.m., ESPN+ 		No. 6 at Long Beach State W 85–77  10–0
  36 – Forbes   8 – Akunwafo   4 – Tied  Walter Pyramid (1,243)
Long Beach, CA
Pac-12 Conference Regular season
December 30, 2023
5:00 p.m., P12N 		No. 6 at No. 2 UCLA
Rivalry 		L 64–71  10–1
(0–1) 		 27 – Watkins   13 – Marshall   5 – Padilla  Pauley Pavilion (13,659)
Los Angeles, CA
January 5, 2024
7:00 p.m., P12N 		No. 9 Oregon State W 56–54  11–1
(1–1) 		 28 – Watkins   14 – Marshall   5 – Marshall  Galen Center (2,749)
Los Angeles, CA
January 7, 2024
12:00 p.m., P12N 		No. 9 Oregon W 68–54  12–1
(2–1) 		 17 – Watkins   9 – Tied   6 – Watkins  Galen Center (2,282)
Los Angeles, CA
January 14, 2024
2:00 p.m., P12N 		No. 9 No. 2 UCLA
Rivalry 		W 73–65  13–1
(3–1) 		 32 – Watkins   10 – Watkins   4 – Forbes  Galen Center (10,258)
Los Angeles, CA
January 19, 2024
6:00 p.m., P12N 		No. 6 at No. 20 Utah L 58–78  13–2
(3–2) 		 26 – Watkins   6 – Davis   2 – Watkins  Jon M. Huntsman Center (5,561)
Salt Lake City, UT
January 21, 2024
12:00 p.m., P12N 		No. 6 at No. 3 Colorado L 59–63  13–3
(3–3) 		 20 – Watkins   6 – Marshall   3 – Tied  CU Events Center (8,474)
Boulder, CO
January 26, 2024
7:00 p.m., P12N 		No. 11 Washington State W 70–62  14–3
(4–3) 		 29 – Watkins   7 – Tied   5 – Padilla  Galen Center (2,671)
Los Angeles, CA
January 28, 2024
12:00 p.m., P12N 		No. 11 Washington L 59–62  14–4
(4–4) 		 20 – Padilla   11 – Marshall   4 – Tied  Galen Center (3,416)
Los Angeles, CA
February 2, 2024
7:00 p.m., P12N 		No. 15 at No. 4 Stanford W 67–58  15–4
(5–4) 		 51 – Watkins   11 – Watkins   2 – Tied  Maples Pavilion (5,371)
Stanford, CA
February 4, 2024
12:00 p.m., P12N 		No. 15 at California W 79–69  16–4
(6–4) 		 29 – Watkins   8 – Davis   5 – Tied  Haas Pavilion (4,356)
Berkeley, CA
February 9, 2024
7:00 p.m., P12N 		No. 10 Arizona State W 81–63  17–4
(7–4) 		 31 – Watkins   16 – Marshall   6 – Padilla  Galen Center (3,128)
Los Angeles, CA
February 12, 2024
6:00 p.m., ESPN2 		No. 10 Arizona W 81–64  18–4
(8–4) 		 32 – Watkins   10 – Marshall   7 – Padilla  Galen Center (4,569)
Los Angeles, CA
February 16, 2024
7:00 p.m., P12N 		No. 10 at Oregon W 88–51  19–4
(9–4) 		 33 – Watkins   12 – Marshall   5 – Davis  Matthew Knight Arena (7,145)
Eugene, OR
February 18, 2024
12:00 p.m., P12N 		No. 10 at No. 11 Oregon State W 58–50  20–4
(10–4) 		 18 – Watkins   17 – Marshall   2 – Tied  Gill Coliseum (8,210)
Corvallis, OR
February 23, 2024
7:00 p.m., P12N 		No. 7 No. 11 Colorado W 87–81  21–4
(11–4) 		 42 – Watkins   5 – Tied   7 – Forbes  Galen Center (5,762)
Los Angeles, CA
February 25, 2024
12:00 p.m., P12N 		No. 7 No. 18 Utah L 68–74  21–5
(11–5) 		 30 – Watkins   8 – Tied   5 – Watkins  Galen Center (7,129)
Los Angeles, CA
February 29, 2024
5:00 p.m., P12N 		No. 7 at Arizona W 95–93 2OT 22–5
(12–5) 		 26 – Marshall   11 – Marshall   5 – Forbes  McKale Center (7,594)
Tucson, AZ
March 2, 2024
11:00 a.m., P12N 		No. 7 at Arizona State W 70–55  23–5
(13–5) 		 26 – Watkins   15 – Marshall   4 – Forbes  Desert Financial Arena (2,739)
Tempe, AZ
Pac-12 Women's Tournament
March 7, 2024
6:00 p.m., P12N 		(2) No. 5 vs. (7) Arizona
Quarterfinals 		W 65–62  24–5
  17 – Watkins   15 – Marshall   5 – Forbes  MGM Grand Garden Arena 
Paradise, NV
March 8, 2024
7:30 p.m., P12N 		(2) No. 5 vs. (3) No. 7 UCLA
Semifinals/Rivalry 		W 80–70 2OT 25–5
  33 – Watkins   16 – Davis   3 – Padilla  MGM Grand Garden Arena (5,713)
Paradise, NV
March 10, 2024
2:00 p.m., ESPN 		(2) No. 5 vs. (1) No. 2 Stanford
Championship 		W 74–61  26–5
  26 – Forbes   18 – Marshall   5 – Davis  MGM Grand Garden Arena (5,526)
Paradise, NV
NCAA Tournament
March 23, 2024*
1:30 p.m., ESPN 		(1 P3) No. 3 (16 P3) Texas A&M–Corpus Christi
First Round 		W 87–55  27–5
  23 – Tied   7 – Marshall   4 – Tied  Galen Center (8,386)
Los Angeles, CA
March 25, 2024*
7:00 p.m., ESPN 		(1 P3) No. 3 (8 P3) Kansas
Second Round 		W 73–55  28–5
  28 – Watkins   11 – Watkins   5 – Watkins  Galen Center (8,941)
Los Angeles, CA
March 30, 2024*
2:30 p.m., ESPN 		(1 P3) No. 3 vs. (5 P3) No. 19 Baylor
Sweet Sixteen 		W 74–70  29–5
  30 – Watkins   16 – Marshall   4 – Watkins  Moda Center (10,104)
Portland, OR
April 1, 2024*
6:31 p.m., ESPN 		(1 P3) No. 3 vs. (3 P3) No. 10 UConn
Elite Eight 		L 73–80  29–6
  27 – Watkins   11 – Marshall   3 – Forbes  Moda Center (10,869)
Portland, OR
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
P3=Portland 3.
All times are in Pacific Time.

Source: USCTrojans.com[14]

NCAA women's basketball tournament

Portland regional 3 - Portland, Oregon

First round
Round of 64
March 22–23 		Second round
Round of 32
March 24–25 		Regional semifinals
Sweet 16
March 30 		Regional Final
Elite 8
April 1
            
1 USC 84
16 Texas A&M–Corpus Christi 55
1 USC 73
Los Angeles, California – Sat/Mon
8 Kansas 55
8 Kansas 81OT
9 Michigan 72
1 USC 74
5 Baylor 70
5 Baylor 80
12 Vanderbilt 63
5 Baylor 75
Blacksburg, Virginia – Fri/Sun
4 Virginia Tech 72
4 Virginia Tech 92
13 Marshall 49
1 USC 73
3 UConn 80
6 Syracuse 74
11 Arizona 69
6 Syracuse 64
Storrs, Connecticut – Sat/Mon
3 UConn 72
3 UConn 86
14 Jackson State 64
3 UConn 53
7 Duke 45
7 Duke 72
10 Richmond 61
7 Duke 75
Columbus, Ohio – Fri/Sun
2 Ohio State 63
2 Ohio State 80
15 Maine 57
Portland regional 3 final
ESPN
April 1
9:31 p.m. EDT
No. 1 USC 73, No. 3 UConn 80
Scoring by quarter: 17-15, 16–18, 18–22, 22–25
Moda Center – Portland, Oregon
Attendance: 10,869
Referees: Maj Forsberg, Kyle Bacon, Brian Hall

Game summaries

This section will be filled in as the season progresses.

Source:


Rankings

See also: 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
т = Tied with team above or below
Week
PollPre12345678910111213141516171819Final
AP211086666699611151010775335
Coaches2110т108655566410151110798336

Awards and honors

  • Forbes
    • All-Pac-12 Team
    • Cheryl Miller Preseason Watchlist
    • Pac-12 Player of the Week
    • Ann Meyers Drysdale Women's National Players of the Week
    • Cheryl Miller Award Top 10 List
    • Pac-12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player
  • Gayles
    • Tammy Blackburn Inspiration Award
  • Marshall
    • All-Pac-12 Team Honorable Mention
    • All-Pac-12 Defensive Team Honorable Mention
    • Silver Medalist at the 2023 FIBA Women's AmeriCup.[15]
    • Jersey Mike's Naismith Award Watchlist
    • Lisa Leslie Preaseason Watchlist
    • Preseason All-Pac-12 Team
    • John Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 Watchlist
    • Naismith Women’s College Defensive Player of the Year Watch List
  • Watkins[16]
    • No. 1 recruit in the nation
    • National Gatorade Player of the Year
    • Pac-12 Freshman of the Year
    • All-Pac-12 Team
    • All-Pac-12 Defensive Team Honorable Mention
    • Pac-12 All-Tournament Team
    • ESPN National Freshman of the Year
    • ESPN All-America Team
    • ESPN National Player of the Year Runner Up
    • The Athletic Freshman of the Year award
    • The Athletic First Team All American
    • Gold Medalist and MVP of the 2022 FIBA Under-17 Women's Basketball World Cup
    • 2020 Sports Illustrated Sports Kid of the Year
    • McDonald's All-American
    • Los Angeles Times Girls Basketball Player of the Year, 2021, 2022, 2023[17]
    • USA Today Girls Basketball Player of the Year
    • Dawn Staley Award Finalist
    • Finalist, Honda Sport Award for Basketball
    • NCAA Record holder for any first-year in women's college basketball
    • Jersey Mike's Naismith Award Watchlist
    • Preseason All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention
    • USBWA Tamika Catchings Freshman of the Week (3x)
    • USBWA Tamika Catchings Award, National Freshman Player of the Year
    • USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Week
    • USBWA All-America Team
    • Pac-12 Freshman of the Week (x14) - All-Time Pac-12 record
    • Pac-12 Player of the Week (x3) - Only player in history to sweep Player of the Week and Freshman of the week multiple times.
    • John Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 Watchlist
    • John Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 Watchlist
    • John Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 Watchlist
    • John Wooden Award Finalist
    • Wooden All-American
    • AP National Player of the Week (x2)
    • Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Top 10 List
    • Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Final Five
    • Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Award
    • Lily Margaret Wade Watchlist
    • WBCA Freshman of the Year
    • Naismith Women’s College Player of the Week
    • ESPN Player of the Week
    • Naismith Women’s College Player of the Year Midseason List
    • Semifinalist, Jersey Mike's Naismith Player of the Year
    • NCAA Starting Five of the Week
  • Gottlieb
    • ESPN Coach of the Week
    • Naismith Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year Late Season Watch List
    • Semifinalist, Werner Ladder Naismith Coach of the Year
  • Team
    • ESPN Team of the Week
    • Pac-12 Tournament Champions

See also

References

  1. ^ "USC women are back in NCAA tournament; UCLA to host two rounds". Los Angeles Times. March 13, 2023.
  2. ^ "2022-23 Women's College Basketball Rankings for Week 19". ESPN.
  3. ^ Team, BVMSports (July 1, 2023). "USC's Courtney Jaco Promoted To Women's Basketball Assistant Coach". BVM Sports.
  4. ^ "Nneka Enemkpali Joins Women's Basketball Coaching Staff".
  5. ^ "McKenzie Forbes Grad Transfers to USC". USC Basketball. April 23, 2023.
  6. ^ "USC Welcomes Mid-Year Transfer Dominique Onu From UCLA". USC Athletics. July 1, 2023.
  7. ^ https://twitter.com/CULionsWBB/status/1655745212554117122
  8. ^ Carnathan, Walker. "Kayla Padilla of Penn women's basketball announces graduate transfer to USC". www.thedp.com.
  9. ^ "2023 High School Girls' Basketball Recruits - USC - ESPN". ESPN.com.
  10. ^ "Top women's hoops recruit Watkins chooses USC". ESPN.com. November 15, 2022.
  11. ^ "2023 HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings - espnW 100 - ESPN". ESPN.com.
  12. ^ "Graney: Aaliyah Gayles authoring a remarkable comeback story". March 2, 2023.
  13. ^ Selbe, Nick (June 2, 2022). "Watch: USC Celebrates Graduation of Signee Aaliyah Gayles, Victim of April Shooting". Sports Illustrated.
  14. ^ "2023-2024 USC Women's Basketball Schedule". USCTrojans.com. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  15. ^ "Rayah Marshall". USA Basketball.
  16. ^ *Incoming first-year JuJu Watkins was ranked as the number one recruit in the nation.
  17. ^ "Girls' basketball player of the year: Sierra Canyon's JuJu Watkins, again". Los Angeles Times. March 19, 2023.

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