Hailing from Clackamas, Oregon, Davidson is the No. 2 overall player and the No. 1 guard in the class of 2025, per On3’s rankings. She committed to USC in September.
As a junior at Clackamas High School last year, Davidson was a semifinalist for the 2023-24 Naismith Trophy High School Girls Basketball Player of the Year award.
“Jazzy, in my opinion, is the jewel of this class,” USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said in a statement. “She is an elite level player in every aspect. She can score, create, defend—a true modern, pro-style player. She has a work ethic and competitiveness that will impact our program immediately. But from that first conversation I also knew that Jazzy the person was someone I wanted in our program. She is truly as humble and likeable as she is talented. We got a special one, and I couldn’t be more excited.”
Gottlieb’s 2024-2025 Trojans currently sit at 3-0 and are ranked No. 3 in the country.
Actually, won is a a massive understatement. USC women’s basketball completely and utterly dominated the lifeless corpse of Cal State Northridge, which had the misfortune of being the Women of Troy’s opponent.
USC led 30-6 after one quarter. At halftime, it was 60-13. Through three quarters, it was 97-20. When the final buzzer sounded, the Trojans had a historic 124-39 victory, and the visitors from Northridge could mercifully go home.
USC’s 124 points scored were a new program record. It was also the Trojans’ second consecutive victory by a margin of 55+ points.
Sure, those games came against Cal Poly and Cal State Northridge, but any time a team wins by 55 and then 85 points, it raises eyebrows.
It is still only three games into the season. The No. 3 Trojans still have nonconference showdowns with No. 6 Notre Dame and No. 2 UConn, plus a gauntlet of a Big Ten schedule, which features seven games against top-25 opponents.
But if early results are any indication, the Women of Troy are going to be a force to be reckoned with this season.
The ugly opener against Ole Miss was the floor for this team. It will play good defense even when it plays bad offense and can stay in games in which it commits turnovers and endures a rough slog at the offensive end. USC will be competitive even when it plays poorly. These last two games against Cal Poly and especially Northridge offer a glimpse of where this team’s ceiling can be. The defense is the constant, but we have seen the offense improve. Notably, Talia von Oelhoffen was finally able to score in double figures. Getting her going really raises this team’s ceiling and raises the bar for what this team can become.
The USC Trojans trouncing Cal State Northridge on Tuesday was expected, but the way they did it was far from ordinary. This performance stood out.
The USC Trojans women’s basketball team is good. Really good. It picked up its third win in as many games this season in super fashion with a 124-39 romp over Cal State Northridge. JuJu Watkins and the rest of the Trojans thrived. The 124-point total broke the school’s single-game scoring record. The 85-point win set the largest margin of victory — men’s or women’s — for Trojans basketball.
The Trojans were led by standout sophomore guard JuJu Watkins, who led all scorers with 21 points and 9 assists. All 13 Trojans who played scored. Six players, including forward Kiki Iriafen (15), scored in double digits.
It was an all-around win for the Trojans. Offensively, they shot 60.8% from the floor and 47.2% beyond the arc while grabbing 15 offensive rebounds. Defensively, the team forced 43 turnovers, four more turnovers than Cal State Northridge had points.
As part of the historic night, USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb picked up her 300th career win, which the team celebrated after the blowout.
The Trojans are a team to keep an eye on this season. Even against weak opponents, with the result known before the tip, this team can create a spectacle night in and night out.
Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo is being watched for a prestigious award.
Notre Dame sophomore guard [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] is on the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Wade Watch List. She’s among 15 players being watched as a potential winner of the oldest, most prestigious player of the year award.
She was a Region I finalist for the 10-member WBCA Division I Coaches All-American team last season. Hidalgo is averaging 23.5 points per game, 8 rebounds per game, and 6 steals per games through two games so far this season.
She had 28 points against the Purdue Boilermakers on Sunday, which lead the Fighting Irish in scoring during their victory.
Hidalgo has already been named an AP Preseason All-American and the Preseason ACC Player of the Year.
If Hidalgo keeps it up, her trophy case could look mighty full when it’s all said and done.
Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo adjusts her headband during an exhibition game against Davenport on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend. Notre Dame won 101-41.
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Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles has had a special start to the season.
Women’s basketball player [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] has taken home ACC Player of the Week honors for the No. 6 Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
The senior guard gets the honors for the third time — her first since December 2022.
She earned it with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against Mercyhurst in her first game back after recovering from a torn ACL. That’s her fourth career triple-double and it came in a 105-61 win.
Miles then had 17 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, an assist and a block against Purdue as Notre Dame beat the Boilermakers 102-58.
Miles was also 7-for-15 from the floor for the Fighting Irish against the Boilermakers, including a 55-foot shot to end the third quarter.
Right now, Miles is the only ACC player to be in the conference’s top 10 for points, rebounds and assists. She’s leading the NCAA with 6.8 assists per game.
Miles has performed another feat — she’s the first NBA, WNBA, men’s or women’s college basketball player to have a 20-point triple-double in their first game back after missing a season due to injury in the last 25 years.
Notre Dame’s next game is at home against James Madison (3-0).
Mar 23, 2024; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Olivia Miles reacts after Notre Dame defeated the Kent State Golden Flashes in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the Purcell Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images
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Here’s when Geno Auriemma could make college basketball history.
UConn head coach Geno Auriemma is on pace to make college basketball history this season. If you’re here, you’re probably wondering when he could break the sport’s all-time wins record.
Here’s the answer: Per Maggie Vanoni of CT Insider, if UConn wins its first four games of the season, Geno will surpass the current record holder Tara VanDerveer (1,216) on November 20 when the Huskies play the FDU Knights, pushing him to 1,217 total career wins.
The fantastic thing is that UConn seemingly expects him to do it that night because several former players will already be on hand that day to celebrate the school’s national championships, and tickets to that game are already sold out.
Tennessee head coach Kim Caldwell isn’t mincing words about how grueling it will be to play her team. She says teams will hate to do it.
The Lady Volunteers are a long way from their championship-winning ways. Unfortunately, that’s seemingly part of the reason former head coach Kellie Harper was relieved of her duties earlier this year, and school leadership brought in Kim Caldwell. Caldwell is admittedly an “out-of-the-box candidate” because while she has a wealth of experience, very little is in Division I basketball — a departure from Tennessee’s track record.
However, she’s a winner. Her 217-31 career record and Division II national title while at Glenville State speak to the results she produces and what she requires of her teams. Why is Caldwell so successful? Per Andrea Adelson of ESPN, Caldwell-coached teams play with an up-tempo pace and a press defense, which is hard to teach, hard for players to learn and hard for opponents to defend. Here’s what she shared about the culture shift happening at Tennessee to play this way:
“A lot of what we do, we need equal or better talent, so we’re going to have to grow it. But I think it is just making teams uncomfortable and making people play the way they don’t want to.”
“We’re not going to try to beat them at their own game. We’re going to try to beat them at a different game. We’re going to try to make them beat us at our game.”
“I want people to know that you’re gonna hate playing us. Simple.”
Caitlin Clark’s fingerprints are still all over Iowa basketball. On Wednesday, junior Taylor McCabe drained a silky logo 3-pointer.
If you were wondering what Iowa would look like without Caitlin Clark, the early results are promising. The Hawkeyes are in a new era, but that didn’t stop them from doing what they do best — putting up points.
During the Hawkeyes’ first win of the season against Northern Illinois, Iowa guard Taylor McCabe launched a beautiful three from the mid-court logo. It was a beauty, and Taylor was stoked that it swished in. Here’s the awesome moment it happened:
Lucy Olsen won’t be Caitlin Clark. And she doesn’t have to be.
The Iowa Hawkeyes will enter a transformation when its 2024-2025 season starts Wednesday.
Caitlin Clark, the generational hooper who changed the fabric of Iowa, is now in the WNBA, leaving the proverbial door wide open for someone else to walk through it.
Enter Lucy Olsen — the Pennsylvania native and senior guard who transferred to Iowa in the offseason after three seasons with the Villanova Wildcats. Olsen seemingly takes over for Clark, stepping into the spotlight to keep the Hawkeyes on the path to title contention.
Will Iowa get back to the national championship game with Lucy Olsen leading the team in a post-Caitlin Clark era? That remains to be seen. But now is a good time to familiarize yourself with the player leading the charge.
1. Lucy Olsen picked the Iowa Hawkeyes for the team’s family culture
Former Iowa’s women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder greets Lucy Olsen after practice Tuesday, July 16, 2024 in Iowa City, Iowa. (Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen-USA TODAY NETWORK)
Why would Lucy Olsen pick Iowa as her next destination, knowing she would have so many expectations — fair or unfair — placed on her?
Former coach Lisa Bluder and the Hawkeyes seemed to have fostered a warm and inviting culture. From a quick phone call right after she transferred to a Zoom meeting with her parents, Iowa was all in on Lucy Olsen. That notion was only reinforced when she met the team in person.
“When we got on campus for a visit, I was like, ‘Wow, this feels like family already,'” Olsen told Chad Leistikow of the Des Moines Register earlier this year. “There was something about the culture they’ve built (that) felt so like home. That’s what sold me.”
Iowa’s Lucy Olsen (33) reacts during a game against Missouri Western Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. (Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen/USA TODAY NETWORK)
Stepping in behind Caitlin Clark (and her legacy) can feel daunting. But Lucy Olsen isn’t trying to fill Clark’s shoes.
“Caitlin Clark is Caitlin Clark. I’m not going to try to be her,” Olsen said. “But they need a point guard, and it’s a perfect opportunity to try to make something happen.”
To her credit, Olsen holds her own on the court, which is a huge reason why she was also heavily pursued by schools like LSU and Maryland when she entered the transfer portal. The senior guard was third in Division I women’s basketball scoring last season, just behind Clark and JuJu Watkins, averaging an impressive 23.3 points per game.
3. Lucy Olsen brings her own unique game to the Iowa Hawkeyes
Iowa’s Lucy Olsen (33) sets up a play against Missouri Western Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. (Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen-USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Lucy Olsen works very well in the midrange and has a patented stepback fadeaway jumper that should get some real shine this season. It’s her go-to move, unleashing it from multiple spots within the arc. She’s also a willing three-point shooter despite only shooting 30 percent from deep last year.
Also, Olsen has plenty of basketball experience that should lend well to a young Iowa team. In addition to three productive seasons at Vilanova, where she finished her career ranking ninth all-time in scoring with 1,504 points, Olsen has also played on the international stage. She’s been playing for Team USA Basketball for nearly two years and won a gold medal at the 2023 FIBA 3×3 U23 Nations League Final.
Kim Mulkey’s eccentric outfits are already up to expectations.
Kim Mulkey will always have a top-tier outfit ready to go, and she wasn’t going to let LSU’s season opener pass by without bringing out some of her best.
In For The Win’s college basketball storylines ahead of this season, we mentioned how Kim Mulkey’s fits deserved to be a story by themselves, and we’re happy to say that WE WERE RIGHT.
During LSU’s first win of the season, Mulkey was on the sidelines in purple pants and a black sequined buttery fly sweater. (Yes, another sequined creation. Remember the cursive sweater vest from last season?) Of course, the butterflies were neon because we could never expect anything less.
