2023–24 USC Trojans women's basketball team
The 2023–24 USC Trojans women's basketball team represents the University of Southern California during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Trojans play their home games at the Galen Center and are members of the Pac-12 Conference. The squad is led by third-year head coach Lindsay Gottlieb.
| 2023–24 USC Trojans women's basketball | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Conference | Pac-12 Conference |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 21 |
| AP | No. 21 |
| Head coach |
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| Assistant coaches |
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| Home arena | Galen Center |
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 will bring 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] Meanwhile, Nneka Enemkpali joined the Rutgers coaching staff during the off-season.[4]
Departures
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 bring in the tenth-ranked recruiting class in the country.[10] The incoming squad features top-ranked high school recruit Juju Watkins and 49th-ranked Malia Samuels.[11] Redshirt first-year Aaliyah Gayles is also expected to play 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
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Schedule
| Date time, TV |
Rank# | Opponent# | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site city, state | |||
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| Exhibition | |||||||||||
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Source: USCTrojans.com[14]
Rankings
| Week | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | 21 | Not released | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coaches | 21 | |||||||||||||||||||
Awards and honors
- Marshall
- Silver Medalist at the 2023 FIBA Women's AmeriCup.[15]
- Watkins[16]
- No. 1 recruit in the nation
- National Gatorade Player of the Year
- 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]
Notes
References
- "USC women are back in NCAA tournament; UCLA to host two rounds". Los Angeles Times. March 13, 2023.
- "2022-23 Women's College Basketball Rankings for Week 19". ESPN.
- Team, BVMSports (July 1, 2023). "USC's Courtney Jaco Promoted To Women's Basketball Assistant Coach". BVM Sports.
- https://scarletknights.com/news/2023/7/18/nneka-enemkpali-joins-womens-basketball-coaching-staff.aspx.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - "McKenzie Forbes Grad Transfers to USC". USC Basketball. April 23, 2023.
- "USC Welcomes Mid-Year Transfer Dominique Onu From UCLA". USC Athletics. July 1, 2023.
- https://twitter.com/CULionsWBB/status/1655745212554117122
- Carnathan, Walker. "Kayla Padilla of Penn women's basketball announces graduate transfer to USC". www.thedp.com.
- "2023 High School Girls' Basketball Recruits - USC - ESPN". ESPN.com.
- "Top women's hoops recruit Watkins chooses USC". ESPN.com. November 15, 2022.
- "2023 HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings - espnW 100 - ESPN". ESPN.com.
- "Graney: Aaliyah Gayles authoring a remarkable comeback story". March 2, 2023.
- Selbe, Nick (June 2, 2022). "Watch: USC Celebrates Graduation of Signee Aaliyah Gayles, Victim of April Shooting". Sports Illustrated.
- "2022-2023 USC Women's Basketball Schedule". USCTrojans.com. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
- "Rayah Marshall". USA Basketball.
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- Incoming first-year Juju Watkins was ranked as the number one recruit in the nation.
- "Girls' basketball player of the year: Sierra Canyon's Juju Watkins, again". Los Angeles Times. March 19, 2023.