USC Women's Basketball National Champions

1983 NCAA CHAMPIONS

Under sixth-year head coach Linda Sharp, the USC women’s basketball team entered the 1982-83 season ranked No. 1 by the AP, Sports Illustrated, Street & Smith and Women’s Sport Magazine.
To begin the season, the Women of Troy earned 13 straight wins, including four 100+ scoring games. Among them, the Trojans defeated Louisiana Tech (two-time defending NCAA champions) 64-58, breaking the Lady Techster’s 59-game win streak.
USC won the Wahine Rainbow Classic Tournament and Winston Tire Classic.
In spite of playing one of the nation’s most competitive schedules that season, the Women of Troy recorded USC’s best season ever with a 31-2 mark.
With a 13-1 record in the WCAA, USC captured the conference crown.
In route to the National Championship, USC traveled more than 16,000 miles and broke 11 attendance records on the road.

Paced by the efforts of Cheryl Miller and Cynthia Cooper, the Women of Troy defeated NE Louisiana State 99-85 to advance to the tournament regionals.

Against Arizona State, USC quickly built a 38-point advantage en route to a 96-59 victory. This was the third win over the Sun Devils this season.
For the regional championship, the Trojans avenged an earlier season loss by defeating Long Beach State 81-74 in front of 4,216 at Pauley Pavilion. USC was led by the “Triple Threat” of Miller and the McGee sisters — Pam and Paula. All three earned NCAA All-Regional honors.

The Trojans faced Mideast Champion Georgia in the NCAA Semifinals in Norfolk, Va. Up by 13 points at the half (40-27), USC defeated the Bulldogs 81-57. Miller posted 16 points and 14 rebounds, while fellow freshman Rhonda Windham set an NCAA Final Four record with 16 assists.

USC and Louisiana Tech, the defending champion, met for the third time this season in the championship game.
In front of 7,800 screaming fans, The Women of Troy were sluggish to start the game and entered halftime with an 11-point deficit (26-37).
To start the second half, Coach Linda Sharp employed a full-court press that led the Trojans on a 9-2 run midway through the half. Fueled by key steals from Cooper, USC took its first lead, 61-59, on a 16- foot jumper by Miller with 5:48 remaining.
USC increased its lead to five points with 1:57 on the clock, but saw that advantage diminish to two with six seconds remaining. Top-of-the-key desperation shots by the Lady Techsters fell short, and the Women of Troy won the program’s first-ever NCAA National Championship, 69-67.
Miller scored a championship game record 27 points after taking over in the second half and hitting key shots. She also broke the game record for most free throws attempted (14) and free throws made (11) and was named Championship MVP.

Paula McGee (Kodak, ABAUSA), Cheryl Miller (Kodak, ABAUSA, Naismith), Rhonda Windham (Fastbreak) Head Coach Linda Sharp was named Wade Trophy, WCAA and The Sporting News Coach of the Year.

The Women of Troy entered the 1983-84 season as the defending NCAA champs and ranked No. 1 according to the Associated Press. With the leadership of Cheryl Miller and Cynthia Cooper, both preseason All-American candidates, a lot was expected from the USC women’s basketball program and its nine returning letterwinners.
The Trojans began the season with 10 consecutive victories, including wins over highly ranked Maryland, Tennessee (twice), Missouri, Georgia and Oregon.
Despite the start, USC suffered a disappointing road trip in early January, enduring successive nine-point losses to Texas and Louisiana Tech, then losing to Old Dominion two nights later. The Women of Troy returned to win 14 consecutive games following the brief losing streak.
In the final game of the season, the Trojans fell to Long Beach State 71-67 and were forced to share the WCAA title with the West Coast rival 49ers.

USC hosted the first round of the NCAA Tournament and defeated BYU 97-72. The team was paced by Pam McGee, who had 25 points, and Cheryl Miller, who grabbed 14 boards.

Leading to the regional championship, the Women of Troy earned a 76-51 win over Montana thanks to the scoring efforts of Paula McGee (22 points) and the rebounding of her sister, Pam (12 rebounds).
Advancing to the regional championship game, USC sought revenge against Long Beach State and dominated the meeting. At the Sports Arena, the Trojans led by as many as 30 points in the second half in route to the 90-74 victory. The 49ers were not able to contain the McGee sisters (Paula had 22 points, Pam added 11 rebounds) as USC advanced to the Final Four by defeating its WCAA arch-rival.

In a rematch of the 1983 national championship game and one of the Trojans’ early season losses, USC met Louisiana Tech in the semifinals of the Final Four. The Women of Troy struggled early in the contest with their own running attack, and were forced to play the slow and deliberate-style game of the Lady Techsters. The Trojans rallied with six minutes remaining as Cynthia Cooper entered the game and hit three straight shots and Yolanda Fletcher added two to put USC on top.

Surprisingly, USC faced Tennessee in the championship game after the Lady Vols upset No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 Old Dominion to reach the finals. The Trojans were the heavy favorites over 15th-ranked Tennessee, having already defeated the Lady Vols twice earlier in the season.
Despite the advantage, USC needed a come-frombehind effort the win the game. The Lady Vols entered halftime with a 28-26 lead and managed to hold onto a one-point lead with 7:36 left to play. Once again, head coach Linda Sharp inserted Cynthia Cooper back into the lineup. Cooper responded by penetrating Tennessee’s zone defense.
The Trojans sealed the championship with an 8-0 run. The partisan Los Angeles crowd was on its feet as the Women of Troy defeated the Lady Vols 72-61 to claim their second-straight NCAA National Championship — the first school to do so in women’s basketball history.

Cheryl Miller (Kodak), Paula McGee (Kodak), Pam McGee (Kodak) Cheryl Miller was honored as the Naismith Player of the Year and the NCAA Championship MVP. Pam and Paula McGee were both named Wade Trophy candidates.