# 2023–24 USC Trojans women's basketball team

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. 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.

## 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. 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.

### 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 | 0 | W | 6'0" | Graduate Transfer | Folsom, CA | Harvard |
| Dominique Onu | 23 | G | 5'9" | Junior | Los Angeles, CA | UCLA |
| Kaitlyn Davis | 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 | 45 | G | 5'9" | Graduate Transfer | Torrance, CA | Penn |

### 2023 recruiting class

Source:
| 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. The incoming squad featured top-ranked high school recruit JuJu Watkins and 49th-ranked Malia Samuels. Redshirt first-year Aaliyah Gayles also played periodically after having sat out the previous season due to injury. Gayles, ranked No. 8 in the country for the class of 2022, was recruited by previous head coach Mark Trakh

## 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

### NCAA women's basketball tournament
#### Portland regional 3 - Portland, Oregon

| First round Round of 64 March 22–23 | First round Round of 64 March 22–23 | First round Round of 64 March 22–23 | Second round Round of 32 March 24–25 | Second round Round of 32 March 24–25 | Second round Round of 32 March 24–25 | Regional semifinals Sweet 16 March 30 | Regional semifinals Sweet 16 March 30 | Regional semifinals Sweet 16 March 30 | | Regional Final Elite 8 April 1 | Regional Final Elite 8 April 1 | Regional Final Elite 8 April 1 |
| 1 | USC | 84 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 16 | Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | 55 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 16 | Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | 55 | 1 | USC | 73 | | | | | | | |
| Los Angeles, California – Sat/Mon | Los Angeles, California – Sat/Mon | Los Angeles, California – Sat/Mon | 1 | USC | 73 | | | | | | | |
| Los Angeles, California – Sat/Mon | Los Angeles, California – Sat/Mon | Los Angeles, California – Sat/Mon | 8 | Kansas | 55 | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Kansas | 81$^{OT}$ | 8 | Kansas | 55 | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Michigan | 72 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Michigan | 72 | | | | 1 | USC | 74 | | | | |
| | | | | | | 5 | Baylor | 70 | | | | |
| 5 | Baylor | 80 | | | | | | | 5 | Baylor | 70 | | | | |
| 12 | Vanderbilt | 63 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 12 | Vanderbilt | 63 | 5 | Baylor | 75 | | | | | | | |
| Blacksburg, Virginia – Fri/Sun | Blacksburg, Virginia – Fri/Sun | Blacksburg, Virginia – Fri/Sun | 5 | Baylor | 75 | | | | | | | |
| Blacksburg, Virginia – Fri/Sun | Blacksburg, Virginia – Fri/Sun | Blacksburg, Virginia – Fri/Sun | 4 | Virginia Tech | 72 | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Virginia Tech | 92 | 4 | Virginia Tech | 72 | | | | | | | |
| 13 | Marshall | 49 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 13 | Marshall | 49 | | | | | | | | 1 | USC | 73 |
| | | | | | | | | | | 3 | UConn | 80 |
| 6 | Syracuse | 74 | | | | | | | | | | | 3 | UConn | 80 |
| 11 | Arizona | 69 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 11 | Arizona | 69 | 6 | Syracuse | 64 | | | | | | | |
| Storrs, Connecticut – Sat/Mon | Storrs, Connecticut – Sat/Mon | Storrs, Connecticut – Sat/Mon | 6 | Syracuse | 64 | | | | | | | |
| Storrs, Connecticut – Sat/Mon | Storrs, Connecticut – Sat/Mon | Storrs, Connecticut – Sat/Mon | 3 | UConn | 72 | | | | | | | |
| 3 | UConn | 86 | 3 | UConn | 72 | | | | | | | |
| 14 | Jackson State | 64 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 14 | Jackson State | 64 | | | | 3 | UConn | 53 | | | | |
| | | | | | | 7 | Duke | 45 | | | | |
| 7 | Duke | 72 | | | | | | | 7 | Duke | 45 | | | | |
| 10 | Richmond | 61 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | Richmond | 61 | 7 | Duke | 75 | | | | | | | |
| Columbus, Ohio – Fri/Sun | Columbus, Ohio – Fri/Sun | Columbus, Ohio – Fri/Sun | 7 | Duke | 75 | | | | | | | |
| Columbus, Ohio – Fri/Sun | Columbus, Ohio – Fri/Sun | Columbus, Ohio – Fri/Sun | 2 | Ohio State | 63 | | | | | | | |
| 2 | Ohio State | 80 | 2 | Ohio State | 63 | | | | | | | |
| 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

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking т = Tied with team above or below :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Final |
| AP | 21 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 15 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 |
| Coaches | 21 | 10т | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 6 |

### 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.
** 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
** 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
** 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