Tag: USC women’s basketball

Star Oregon State transfer Talia Von Oelhoffen visits USC

Talia Von Oelhoffen would make a great addition to the USC roster.

The USC women’s basketball program welcomed two high-level transfers to Los Angeles on Friday. While most of the headlines surrounded Stanford transfer Kiki Iriafen, the Trojans also welcomed Oregon State transfer Talia Von Oelhoffen to their campus.

It would be a dream come true for USC to land Kiki Iriafen, but let’s not forget — or diminish — Talia Von Oelhoffen. The Oregon State guard is a relentless defender, a late-game shotmaker, and a rugged competitor who would make USC a better team. Von Oelhoffen would make a tremendous addition to the Trojans’ 2025 roster and relieve a lot of pressure from both JuJu Watkins and the incoming class of elite freshmen who will be tested in the Big Ten Conference.

Von Oelhoffen would fit very well in assistant coach Beth Burns’ defensive scheme. She is also skilled enough on offense to make defenses pay for double-teaming JuJu Watkins. There are so many ways in which “TVO” would enhance the Trojans’ roster and increase the chances that USC could reach the 2025 Women’s Final Four next season.

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Lindsay Gottlieb offers a candid assessment of USC women’s basketball

Lindsay Gottlieb is regularly and refreshingly honest in describing the state of her program.

Lindsay Gottlieb has carried USC women’s basketball a long way, but that long journey still has many miles to go. Gottlieb, in an interview with Ahmad Akkaoui of 247Sports, said that while USC has made tremendous progress and is heading in the right direction, the Women of Troy are not yet where they want to be.

“We still feel incredibly hungry. We didn’t do everything we want to do. We were chasing what South Carolina has right now, which is a national championship. We’re chasing what UConn, Iowa and NC State did, which was go to a Final Four,” Gottlieb said. “We’re on the cusp of greatness, but also being motivated to work to get there. I think success in college athletics – improvement comes from three areas. It comes with improving the players currently in your program, comes from bringing in talented freshmen, and it comes from the transfer portal.”

Gottlieb is clear about the forward steps USC has taken, but she rightly doesn’t want anyone to assume that the Final Four and national championship contention will naturally happen just because JuJu Watkins will have another year of experience. No. Other players will need to make significant contributions. Gottlieb will have to coach better after getting outflanked by Geno Auriemma of UConn in the Elite Eight.

USC is in a very good place, but that’s not quite the best possible place. Taking those final steps will be the program’s goal in the next 12 months.

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USC’s McKenzie Forbes picked No. 28 by L.A. Sparks in WNBA draft

McKenzie Forbes stays in Los Angeles with the Sparks.

The USC Trojans placed multiple players in the 2024 WNBA draft. The first one off the board was McKenzie Forbes at No. 28 to the Los Angeles Sparks. Forbes was a central performer for USC women’s basketball this past season, helping JuJu Watkins and the Women of Troy reach the Elite Eight.

Lindsay Gottlieb, who coached Forbes at Cal several years ago before going to the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers and then returning to the college game at USC, reunited with Forbes and brought her from Harvard via the transfer portal. Forbes proved to be an essential piece of the supporting-cast puzzle for USC, becoming a dependable and trusted teammate for Watkins in her freshman season. Forbes was a veteran voice Watkins looked up to and learned from. Forbes was able to play off JuJu and get open looks for 3-pointers. When she knocked them down, USC was an extremely tough team to beat. Forbes hit very big shots in March, starring in USC’s win over Stanford in the Pac-12 Tournament championship game. She also made very significant contributions to NCAA Tournament wins over Kansas in the second round and Baylor in the Sweet 16.

The Sparks are getting a smart, tough, selfless, team-first player who is willing to defend and rebound and do the dirty work at all times. When her shots aren’t falling, Forbes will still give maximum effort at the defensive end, the mark of a mature two-way basketball player. We wish Forbes the best of luck in the WNBA.

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Lindsay Gottlieb retraces the larger journey USC women’s basketball has made

Lindsay Gottlieb’s words from the 2023 NCAA Tournament echo powerfully in 2024.

USC is in the Elite Eight. The Trojans face UConn Monday night for a spot in the Final Four. This women’s basketball program has come a long way. One year ago, when USC was returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014, coach Lindsay Gottlieb reflected on the 2023 team and its significant journey to bring USC women’s hoops back to relevance. One can hear echoes of the sacrifice and team-first attitude which have carried the 2024 team even deeper in March Madness.

Gottlieb spoke to the press in Blacksburg, Virginia, after USC’s 2023 NCAA Tournament game versus South Dakota State:

“In the spring of last year when I figured out where we needed to go, what the direction needed to be, and how we were going to get there, I was very transparent with this is where we’re going, this is how we’re going to shape the culture,” Gottlieb said. “I had to go out and get a bunch of transfers who believed in that vision, a mix of people from a lot of different places. Our north star and our driving force has always been that we wanted to be in the postseason. We wanted to win. What does winning look like? It’s a bunch of people who really bought into that all year, and then we coached them up in terms of how it has to look in terms of the effort and the intensity. I credit our players. I told them I think there’s a lot of great things in store for this program.

“I’ll never forget this group,” Gottlieb continued about her 2023 squad. “They changed the perceptions of what people think of us. A couple of them were super seniors in their last year of eligibility, and even though they might not be here when we do some other big things in this tournament, in my mind they’ll be part of it, they’ll be part of the Trojan legacy in a way that’s really important to me. I’m proud of that, and it’s something that’s been part of our identity all year long.”

Gottlieb also commented specifically on Rayah Marshall, and how her first phone call at USC was to keep her from leaving through the transfer portal.

“She’s been coachable, she wants to be great, she allows us to push her. She got a taste of it tonight. That can be a scary thing in a good way. She’s not happy with the feeling and that’s going to drive her,” Gottlieb said. “Her talent is limitless. We’re going to help make her into one of the best players she can be, one of the best players in the country.”

Marshall and the Trojans play for the Final Four on Monday night in Portland against UConn.

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USC lost to a familiar foe in its last Elite Eight game 30 years ago

USC beat Louisiana Tech in each of its three runs to the national title game in the 1980s. Tech fought back in 1994.

Monday night, USC women’s basketball plays its first Elite Eight game since 1994. That last Elite Eight appearance did not lead to a win for USC. The Trojans ran into a familiar opponent 30 years ago.

In 1983, 1984, and 1986, USC reached the national championship game of the NCAA Tournament, winning two of three times. In each of those three runs to the final round of March Madness, USC defeated Louisiana Tech, including a point guard named Kim Mulkey who led Tech to the 1982 national championship and then two more Final Fours. USC beat Louisiana Tech and Mulkey in the 1983 championship game and the 1984 Final Four national semifinals. Mulkey was no longer playing for Tech in 1994, but Tech was definitely aware of the history between the two programs. It managed to strike back and defeat USC.

The Los Angeles Times picked up the Associated Press account of the game:

“Amy Brown’s three-point play put Tech ahead to stay, 55-54, with 12:21 to play. Williams’ rebound basket and three-pointer gave Tech some breathing room, 64-58. Nicky McCrimmon’s driving layup cut it to 64-61, but Williams responded from the outside. Racquel Spurlock came up with a steal that resulted in a seven-point lead, and Southern Cal never got closer than five points the rest of the way.

“Southern Cal appeared tired down the stretch. Lisa Leslie, the Pac-10’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder, was short on a free throw, short from in close and missed badly on two three-pointer attempts in the final minutes. She finished with 24 points, while Tina Thompson scored 17 and McCrimmon 16.”

USC isn’t playing Louisiana Tech in the 2024 Elite Eight, but the Trojans are playing a blue-blood, just as they did in 1994. It’s the ultimate women’s basketball blue-blood, the UConn Huskies. The game starts a little after 6 p.m. Pacific on Monday, April 1.

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Reaching the Sweet 16 used to be commonplace at USC; Trojans might be starting a new era of similar success

USC made the Sweet 16 nearly every year way back when. The Trojans are trying to re-establish that standard — and they just might do it.

The first Women’s NCAA Tournament was held in 1982. From 1982 through 1994, USC was a legitimate national powerhouse in women’s college basketball. Yes, the height of USC’s glory came in the mid-1980s, with two national championships and three runs to the national title game, running through 1986. Even though the Final Fours didn’t continue to flow through the late 1980s and early 1990s, USC still made the Sweet 16 more often than not.

Here’s how consistently strong USC was as a women’s college basketball program through 1994, the last year before this one that the Trojans reached the Sweet 16: From 1982 through 1994 — 13 seasons — USC reached the Sweet 16 in 10 of those seasons. The Trojans made seven straight Sweet 16s from 1982 through 1988, then three straight years from 1992 through 1994. It was very rare when this program wasn’t playing for very high stakes in the second weekend of March Madness. Cheryl Miller played in a Sweet 16 and coached USC in a Sweet 16 in this glowing 13-year run of excellence. Lisa Leslie and Tina Thompson continued what Miller’s USC teams had started a decade earlier.

It is striking to note this level of elite consistency given that USC then fell off the map in women’s college basketball for multiple decades. It has taken USC 30 years to get back to a Sweet 16. Now, Lindsay Gottlieb, JuJu Watkins, and the new-age Women of Troy hope to create a fresh standard in which USC regularly makes the Sweet 16 and is actually disappointed if the Sweet 16 is as deep as it goes in March. USC faces Baylor in the 2024 Sweet 16 this Saturday afternoon in Portland. The game starts at 2:30 p.m. Pacific time on ESPN.

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Remembering USC women’s basketball’s last Sweet 16 game — and victory — against Dawn Staley’s mentor

There are a lot of amazing backstories attached to USC’s last Sweet 16 game, played 30 years ago against Virginia.

The workings of life and history are remarkable in their ability to create all sorts of connections and crosscurrents we marvel at decades later. Such is the case with USC women’s basketball’s last Sweet 16 game — and win — in the Women’s NCAA Tournament. Dawn Staley didn’t play in that game against USC, but her mentor, Debbie Ryan, coached against the Trojans.

Dawn Staley played at Virginia from 1988 through 1992, so she was gone by the time USC faced UVA in the 1994 Sweet 16. However, Staley’s coach — Debbie Ryan — was still there, leading Virginia through a very prosperous period. The apex of Ryan’s very successful tenure in Charlottesville came when Staley was the team’s unquestioned leader. Virginia made three straight Final Fours from 1990 through 1992, reaching the national championship game once. From 1990 through 1996, Virginia made the Elite Eight six out of seven times.

1994 is the one year UVA didn’t make the Elite Eight in that seven-season span. USC was the team which denied the Cavaliers, 85-66.

This was more than just a win over Dawn Staley’s coach, though. Tina Thompson, who helped USC win this game and move to the 1994 Elite Eight, became Virginia’s head coach over a decade later.

Debbie Ryan coached Virginia through 2011, when a woman named Joanne Boyle took over. Boyle left Cal, where she had been coaching the Golden Bears. The woman who succeeded her in Berkeley: Lindsay Gottlieb.

There’s quite a lot of women’s college basketball history attached to USC’s last Sweet 16 game and victory. Thirty years later, the Trojans finally return to the Sweet 16 with Gottlieb leading the way.

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Baylor, fresh off impressive win at Virginia Tech, tries to take down USC in Sweet 16

Baylor just won a tough road game at Virginia Tech. The Bears are good, and they’re coming for USC in the Sweet 16.

The Baylor Bears are next up for the USC women’s basketball team in the Women’s NCAA Tournament. Baylor lost to Iowa State in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals, so the Bears had a lot to prove heading into March Madness. They responded well, beating Vanderbilt and then Virginia Tech on the first weekend of the Big Dance. The win over Virginia Tech was a true road game on the Hokies’ home floor in Blacksburg, Virginia. That game is the entry point for a brief discussion about the Bears.

On one hand, winning an NCAA Tournament road game is extremely difficult, regardless of the opponent. Cassell Coliseum, Virginia Tech’s home arena, is a tough place to win in. Baylor’s ability to scratch out a 75-72 win over the Hokies reflects well on the Bears and shows how formidable they are. Baylor was not favored to win that game. The Bears — like Colorado beating Kansas State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament — won a true road game to reach the Sweet 16. That deserves a lot of respect.

Yet, as well as Baylor did play to win against Virginia Tech, it remains that the Hokies were without star player Elizabeth Kitley, who was injured and unable to play. Virginia Tech without Kitley is a greatly diminished version of its best self. Baylor turned in a winning performance, but the depleted nature of its opponent can’t be ignored.

So, as Baylor now faces USC in the Sweet 16, we’re all wondering how much the Kitley injury influenced that outcome, and how prepared the Bears will be against a full-strength USC team with all of its best players available for this regional semifinal on Saturday.

USC might benefit from playing Baylor in this respect: The Trojans just faced Kansas, a fellow Big 12 school. Lindsay Gottlieb, Beth Burns, and the rest of the staff might watch some Kansas-Baylor game film this week to get a feel for how the Trojans can attack and respond to Baylor at both ends of the floor. USC will need to minimize turnovers, which became a problem against Kansas, and find a way to get to the free throw line more than it did this past Monday versus KU.

Having seen Baylor score 75 on the road at Virginia Tech, USC will need to find a way to make sure Baylor doesn’t score in the 70s. USC gives itself the best possible chance of winning when it can hold an opponent under 60 points. There’s a lot to deal with when looking at a Baylor team whose toughness is impossible to ignore.

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Everyone wants to see USC vs UConn, but Trojans must first focus on Baylor

USC needs tunnel vision and an ability to ignore the media’s talk about anything beyond Baylor.

The USC women’s basketball team is in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. The Trojans are in Portland for a regional which also includes the Connecticut Huskies. UConn is the ultimate powerhouse in women’s college basketball — not this season, but certainly over the past 30 years. The Huskies will be appearing in their 30th straight Sweet 16. They have won 11 national titles in those 30 years and have made 21 Final Four appearances. Geno Auriemma basically owned the sport of women’s college basketball from 2002 through 2016. In that 15-year span, UConn won nine national titles. The Huskies won the national title for a majority of a time period lasting a decade and a half.

This year’s UConn team has been ravaged by a flood of injuries. The Huskies are seeded third and aren’t at full strength. Yet, it’s still UConn. It’s still Geno. Paige Bueckers, an elite player, is still on the roster, giving this team a chance to go to the Final Four. You know that ESPN and a lot of women’s basketball fans want to see USC and JuJu Watkins get their shot at UConn next Monday with the Final Four on the line. That is going to be a talking point in Portland heading into the Sweet 16.

USC has to block out that talk and the distractions which come along with it. The Trojans have to have tunnel vision and focus relentlessly on their next opponent, the Baylor Bears. Baylor comes from a Big 12 Conference which is putting up a fight in this NCAA Tournament. Texas looks strong heading into its own Sweet 16 battle in Portland against Gonzaga on Friday. Iowa State nearly upset Stanford on the road, losing an epic game in overtime this past Sunday in Maples Pavilion. The Big 12 has quality teams. Baylor is one of them. The Bears just beat Virginia Tech on the road to make their way to Portland.

USC-UConn? Nope. Don’t go down that road just yet. People will talk about it, but USC has other things to do before then. The Trojans need to play with great clarity to handle Baylor on Saturday afternoon. The game starts at 2:30 p.m. Pacific time on ESPN.

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JuJu Watkins and Cheryl Miller discuss USC’s run to No. 1 seed for NCAA Tournament, and more

Cheryl Miller and JuJu Watkins had a conversation. You’ll want to watch it.

Cheryl Miller’s place as a basketball icon is enormous and secure. JuJu Watkins is just beginning to collect awards and pursue championships at USC. An established USC great and a rising USC star have a lot to talk about, and one of the great things about this USC women’s basketball season is how it has brought the legend and the current Trojan star together.

Cheryl Miller’s imprint on USC and Los Angeles sports is massive. As we noted, “After facing Kim Mulkey in a contentious Final Four semifinal on March 30, 1984, Cheryl Miller became a teammate of Mulkey on the 1984 United States Women’s Basketball National Team. Miller, Mulkey, and other women’s basketball stars of the era led the USA to the gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics. Miller therefore won a national title and Olympic gold in Los Angeles in 1984, a very special year for a USC basketball icon.”

Cheryl Miller and JuJu Watkins talked ball, USC, and more in a conversation you won’t want to miss. Here it is:

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