2024–25 USC Trojans women's basketball team

2024–25 USC Trojans women's basketball
2024–25 USC Trojans women's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 4
AP	No. 4
Record	19–1 (9–0 Big Ten)
Head coach	Lindsay Gottlieb (4th season);
Assistant coaches	Beth Burns (3rd season); Wendale Farrow (4th season); Willnett Crockett (2nd season); Courtney Jaco (2nd season);
Home arena	Galen Center
	Seasons ← 2023–24 2025–26 →

2024–25 Big Ten women's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 4 USC	9	–	0	1.000	19	–	1	.950
No. 1 UCLA	8	–	0	1.000	20	–	0	1.000
No. 8 Ohio State	8	–	1	.889	19	–	1	.950
No. 14 Maryland	7	–	3	.700	17	–	4	.810
No. 16 Michigan State	7	–	3	.700	17	–	4	.810
Nebraska	7	–	3	.700	16	–	5	.762
Oregon	7	–	3	.700	16	–	5	.762
Minnesota	6	–	4	.600	18	–	4	.818
Illinois	6	–	4	.600	16	–	5	.762
Indiana	5	–	4	.556	13	–	7	.650
Michigan	5	–	5	.500	14	–	7	.667
Washington	4	–	5	.444	13	–	8	.619
Iowa	4	–	6	.400	14	–	7	.667
Wisconsin	2	–	8	.200	11	–	10	.524
Penn State	1	–	10	.091	10	–	12	.455
Rutgers	1	–	10	.091	9	–	13	.409
Northwestern	0	–	8	.000	7	–	12	.368
Purdue	0	–	10	.000	7	–	14	.333

† 2025 Big Ten tournament winner As of January 30, 2025 Rankings from AP Poll

The 2024–25 USC Trojans women's basketball team represents the University of Southern California during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Trojans are led by fourth-year head coach Lindsay Gottlieb, and play their home games at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, California. This marks the program's first season as a member of the Big Ten Conference.

USC enters their first season in the Big Ten ranked No. 1 in the preseason coaches poll.

Previous season

The Women of Troy finished the Pac-12 regular season tied for second with UCLA. USC held the tiebreaker over UCLA, earning then the 2-seed in the 2024 Pac-12 Conference women's basketball tournament, where they won.

The squad earned their second straight bid for the NCAA women's basketball tournament, earning a No. 1 seed in the Portland region. They went on to beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the First Round, Kansas in the Second Round, and Baylor in the Sweet Sixteen, but lost to Connecticut in the Elite Eight.

They started the season ranked No. 21 and finished the season with a No. 5 AP ranking and a No. 6 ranking in the Coaches' poll.

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Reason for Departure
Taylor Bigby	1	G	6'1"	Jr	Las Vegas, NV	Transferred to TCU.
India Otto	2	G	5'9"	GS	Los Angeles, CA	Joined staff as Coordinator of Player Engagement. Graduated.
Kayla Williams	4	G	5'7"	Sr	Los Angeles, CA	Transferred to UC Berkeley. Graduated.
Kaitlyn Davis	24	G/F	6'0"	GS	Norwalk, CT	Drafted in the 3rd Round (35th Overall) in the 2024 WNBA draft by the New York Liberty. Graduated.
McKenzie Forbes	25	G	6'0"	GS	Folsom, CA	Drafted in the 3rd Round (28th Overall) in the 2024 WNBA draft by the Los Angeles Sparks. Graduated.
Roxane Makolo	30	G	5'10"	GS	Quebec, CA	Transferred to Georgia.
Kayla Padilla	45	G	5'9"	GS	Torrance, CA	Graduated

Incoming transfers

Name	Num	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Kiki Iriafen	44	F	6'3"	GS	Los Angeles, CA	Stanford
Talia von Oelhoffen	55	G	5'11"	GS	Tri-Cities, WA	Oregon State

2024 recruiting class

Source:^[1]

Name	Overall Rank	Position	Hometown	High School	Height	ESPN Stars	ESPN Grade
Vivian Iwuchukwu	47	F	Imo State, Nigeria	Montverde Academy	6'3"	4	94
Rian Forester	53	G	Helotes, TX	Brandeis	5'11"	4	94
Laura Williams	89	F	Tampa, FL	St. Paul VI Catholic	6'1"	4	91
Kayleigh Heckel	28	G	Port Chester, NY	Long Island Lutheran	5'9"	5	97
Kennedy Smith	6	G	Chino, CA	Etiwanda	6'1"	5	98
Avery Howell	23	G	Boise, ID	Boise	6'0"	5	97
Brooklyn Shamblin		G	Carpinteria, CA	Oaks Christian	5'9"	3

Roster

2024–25 USC Trojans women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	0	Vivian Iwuchukwu	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Fr	Montverde Academy	Imo State, Nigeria
G	3	Aaliyah Gayles	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	RS So	Spring Valley	Las Vegas, NV
G	4	Rian Forestier	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	Fr	Brandeis	Helotes, TX
F	6	Laura Williams	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Fr	St. Paul VI Catholic	Tampa, FL
G	9	Kayleigh Heckel	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	Fr	Long Island Lutheran	Port Chester, NY
G	10	Malia Samuels	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)	So	Garfield	Seattle, WA
G	11	Kennedy Smith	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Fr	Etiwanda	Chino, CA
G	12	JuJu Watkins	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	So	Sierra Canyon	Los Angeles, CA
F/C	13	Rayah Marshall	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	Sr	Lynwood	Los Angeles, CA
G	21	Dominique Darius	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	RS Jr	Blair Academy	Jacksonville, FL
G	23	Avery Howell	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Fr	Boise	Boise, ID
G	24	Brooklyn Shamblin	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	Fr	Oaks Christian	Carpinteria, CA
C	34	Clarice Akunwafo	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	Sr	Rolling Hills Prep	Anambra State, Nigeria
F	44	Kiki Iriafen	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	GS	Harvard-Westlake Stanford	Los Angeles, CA
G	55	Talia von Oelhoffen	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	GS	Chiawana Oregon State	Tri-Cities, WA

Head coach

Lindsay Gottlieb (Brown)

Assistant coach(es)

Beth Burns (Ohio Wesleyan)
Wendale Farrow (Eastern Michigan)
Courtney Jaco (USC)
Wilnett Crockett (Connecticut)
Chris Koclanes (Old Dominion)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: November 24, 2024

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site city, state
Regular season
November 4, 2024* 9:00 a.m., ESPN	No. 3	vs. No. 20 Ole Miss Aflac Oui-Play Game	W 68–66	1–0	27 – Watkins	13 – Iriafen	4 – Watkins	Adidas Arena Paris, France
November 9, 2024* 2:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 3	Cal Poly	W 90–35	2–0	16 – Watkins	7 – Tied	7 – von Oelhoffen	Galen Center (5,215) Los Angeles, California
November 12, 2024* 7:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 3	Cal State Northridge	W 124–39	3–0	21 – Watkins	9 – Marshall	9 – Watkins	Galen Center (3,064) Los Angeles, California
November 15, 2024* 12:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 3	Santa Clara	W 81–50	4–0	22 – Watkins	7 – Iriafen	6 – Von Oelhoffen	Galen Center (3,594) Los Angeles, California
November 23, 2024* 1:00 p.m., NBC	No. 3	No. 6 Notre Dame	L 61–74	4–1	15 – Iriafen	9 – Tied	5 – Watkins	Galen Center (7,894) Los Angeles, California
November 27, 2024* 4:00 p.m., TruTV	No. 6	vs. Seton Hall Acrisure Holiday Invitational	W 84–51	5–1	20 – Watkins	11 – Marshall	6 – Marshall	Acrisure Arena Palm Springs, California
November 29, 2024* 4:00 p.m., TruTV	No. 6	vs. Saint Louis Acrisure Holiday Invitational	W 104–65	6–1	34 – Watkins	12 – Iriafen	4 – Tied	Acrisure Arena (2,725) Palm Springs, California
December 3, 2024* 6:30 p.m., BTN	No. 6	California Baptist	W 94–52	7–1	40 – Watkins	10 – Tied	6 – von Oelhoffen	Galen Center (2,489) Los Angeles, California
December 7, 2024 1:00 p.m., BTN	No. 6	at Oregon	W 66–53	8–1 (1–0)	21 – Watkins	12 – Iriafen	4 – Tied	Matthew Knight Arena (7,246) Eugene, Oregon
December 10, 2024* 6:00 p.m., BTN	No. 5	Fresno State	W 89–40	9–1	24 – Iriafen	13 – Marshall	5 – Watkins	Galen Center (3,081) Los Angeles, California
December 15, 2024* 12:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 5	Elon	W 88–30	10–1	26 – Watkins	14 – Marshall	5 – Watkins	Galen Center (4,818) Los Angeles, California
December 21, 2024* 5:00 p.m., FOX	No. 7	at No. 4 UConn	W 72–70	11–1	25 – Watkins	11 – Iriafen	6 – Iriafen	XL Center (15,684) Hartford, CT
December 29, 2024 7:00 p.m., BTN	No. 4	No. 23 Michigan	W 78–58	12–1 (2–0)	31 – Watkins	9 – Iriafen	7 – Watkins	Galen Center (8,043) Los Angeles, California
January 1, 2025 12:00 p.m., BTN	No. 4	Nebraska	W 75–55	13–1 (3–0)	26 – Watkins	9 – Marshall	4 – Watkins	Galen Center (5,662) Los Angeles, California
January 5, 2025 5:00 p.m., BTN	No. 4	at Rutgers	W 92–42	14–1 (4–0)	23 – Watkins	14 – Watkins	6 – von Oelhoffen	Jersey Mike's Arena (7,356) Piscataway, New Jersey
January 8, 2025 5:30 p.m., FS1	No. 4	at No. 8 Maryland	W 79–74	15–1 (5–0)	21 – Tied	15 – Marshall	4 – Heckel	XFINITY Center (14,735) College Park, Maryland
January 12, 2025 5:00 p.m., BTN	No. 4	Penn State	W 95–73	16–1 (6–0)	35 – Watkins	11 – Watkins	4 – Tied	Galen Center (5,881) Los Angeles, California
January 15, 2025 7:00 p.m., Peacock	No. 4	Northwestern	Postponed					Galen Center Los Angeles, California
January 19, 2025 9:00 a.m., NBC	No. 4	at Indiana	W 73–66	17–1 (7–0)	22 – Watkins	10 – Marshall	5 – Smith	Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (12,534) Bloomington, Indiana
January 22, 2025 4:00 p.m., Peacock	No. 4	at Purdue	W 79–37	18–1 (8–0)	18 – Howell	13 – Marshall	6 – von Oelhoffen	Mackey Arena (7,543) West Lafayette, Indiana
January 30, 2025 7:00 p.m., Peacock	No. 4	Minnesota	W 82–69	19–1 (9–0)	23 – Iriafen	11 – Tied	6 – von Oelhoffen	Galen Center (5,243) Los Angeles, California
February 2, 2025 10:30 a.m., FOX	No. 4	at Iowa						Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa
February 5, 2025 4:30 p.m., Peacock		at Wisconsin						Kohl Center Madison, Wisconsin
February 8, 2025 6:00 p.m., FOX		Ohio State						Galen Center Los Angeles, California
February 13, 2025 7:00 p.m., Peacock		UCLA Rivalry						Galen Center Los Angeles, California
February 16, 2025 4:00 p.m., BTN		at Washington						Alaska Airlines Arena Seattle, Washington
February 19, 2025 6:30 p.m., Peacock		Michigan State						Galen Center Los Angeles, California
February 23, 2025 1:00 p.m., FS1		Illinois Senior Day						Galen Center Los Angeles, California
March 1, 2025 6:00 p.m., FOX		at UCLA Rivalry						Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, California
Big Ten Women's Tournament
March 5th - March 9th, 2025 --:-- p.m.		vs. TBD						Gainbridge Fieldhouse Indianapolis, Indiana
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time.

Source: USCTrojans.com^[2]

Game summaries

This section will be filled in as the season progresses.

Source:

No. 20 Ole Miss (Aflac Oui-Play Game)

ESPN

November 4th, 2024
9:00 a.m. PST

No. 20 Ole Miss Rebles 66, No. 3 USC Trojans 68
Scoring by quarter: 16-15, 10-22, 19-15, 21-16
Pts: Deans Kristen - 19 Rebs: Tied - 9 Asts: Madison Scott - 5		Pts: JuJu Watkins - 27 Rebs: Kiki Iriafen - 13 Asts: Juju Watkins - 4

Cal Poly Mustangs 35, No. 3 USC Trojans 90
Scoring by quarter: 6-40, 11-17, 10-16, 8-17
Pts: Sydney Bourland - 12 Rebs: Sydney Bourland - 6 Asts: Alana Goosby - 3		Pts: Tied - 16 Rebs: Tied - 7 Asts: Talia von Oelhoffen - 7

Cal State Northridge Matadors 39, No. 3 USC Trojans 124
Scoring by quarter: 6-30, 7-30, 7-37, 19-27
Pts: Laini Dahlin - 11 Rebs: Erika Aspajo - 4 Asts: Erika Aspajo - 4		Pts: JuJu Watkins - 21 Rebs: Rayaj Marshall - 9 Asts: JuJu Watkins - 9

Santa Clara Broncos 50, No. 3 USC Trojans 81
Scoring by quarter: 13-25, 13-14, 12-22, 12-20
Pts: Kaya Ingram - 13 Rebs: Hannah Rapp - 8 Asts: Madison Naro - 3		Pts: JuJu Watkins - 22 Rebs: Kiki Iriafen - 7 Asts: Talia von Oelhoffen - 6

Previous season

Departures

Incoming transfers

2024 recruiting class

Roster

Schedule and results

Game summaries

No. 20 Ole Miss (Aflac Oui-Play Game)

vs. Cal Poly

vs. Cal State Northridge

vs. Santa Clara

vs. No. 6 Notre Dame

Seton Hall (Acrisure Holiday Invitational)

Saint Louis (Acrisure Holiday Invitational)

vs. California Baptist

at. Oregon

vs. Fresno State

vs. Elon

at. No. 4 UConn

vs. No. 23 Michigan

vs. Nebraska

at. Rutgers

at. No. 8 Maryland

vs. Penn State

vs. Northwestern

at. Indiana

Rankings

See also

References

External links