University Southern California Trojans
USC Women Take Six-Game Win Streak To Westwood
January 04, 2011 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 4, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format
COMING UP NEXT
USC heads over to the home courts of heated rival UCLA this weekend for the teams' first meeting of the season. Off to their best start in 17 years, the Trojans take a six-game win streak into Saturday's clash with the Bruins, who rank highest at No. 11 in the nation and hold one loss on the year. USC (10-3, 2-0 Pac-10) will square off against No. 11 UCLA (12-1, 2-0) at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday (Jan. 8) at Pauley Pavilion in Westwood in a game to be televised by FSN.
FOLLOW ALONG
Saturday's game will be broadcast live on FSN with play-by-play from Jim Watson and color commentary from Mary Murphy. Live online audio also will be provided by Jason Schwartz through usctrojans.com. Live stats through GameTracker will be available online through the women's basketball page at usctrojans.com.
IN THE NATION
USC is not ranked but is receiving votes in the latest AP poll. UCLA ranks No. 12 in this week's AP poll and is No. 11 according to ESPN/USA Today.
INJURY REPORT
USC incoming freshman forward Thaddesia Southall will redshirt this season due to an ACL injury sustained before arriving at USC. Two current Women of Troy redshirted last season due to knee injuries -- G Stefanie Gilbreath and F Michelle Jenkins. Gilbreath returned to action for USC's season opener against Gonzaga on Nov. 12, but was recently sidelined as of Dec. 17 by a foot injury. Jenkins is expected to return near the start of 2011.
LAST WEEK
USC iced its best start in years and opened up Pac-10 play with a road sweep as USC grabbed three wins in five days last week. On a chilly journey through Fresno and on to wintery Washington, USC edged Fresno State 82-78, beat Washington State 72-57 and topped Washington 60-51. Highlighting the USC road run was a career-high 27-point outing from Jacki Gemelos in the win over Fresno State. USC finished out the game shooting 51 percent from the floor, charged up by an 11-of-14 outing from Gemelos - including a career-best 5-of-7 effort from 3-point range. Four Trojans finished in double figures in that win as well as the WSU victory, which saw freshman Cassie Harberts notch her first career double-double. USC shot 39 percent in that one, ahead of WSU's 30 percent, with the teams even on the boards 48-48 and both with eight 3-pointers apiece. Against Washington, USC had a cooler offensive day, as the Trojans had to fight out of reach of the Huskies, who pulled it to a one-point game with 9:45 to go. USC finished the game shooting a chilly 28 percent to trail a 37-percent game from Washington. Christina Marinacci swept up the boards for USC with 12 rebounds to get USC a 52-40 advantage on the boards, while Gemelos, Harberts and Briana Gilbreath scored in double digits to help USC secure a six-game win streak.
THE BEST SINCE...
USC's strong start to the season has the Trojans holding numbers the program hasn't hit in over a decade. USC's 8-3 record going into Pac-10 play marked the best such winning percentage since the 1994-95 season, when USC was 7-1 entering conference play. Now 10-3 overall with two opening Pac-10 wins, the Women of Troy are off to their best overall start since 1993-94, when USC held a 17-1 record before taking its first Pac-10 loss.
SCOUTING UCLA
The No. 11 Bruins are 12-1 overall and 2-0 in Pac-10 play after beating Washington 60-48 and WSU 80-55 last week. UCLA's lone loss of the year came in an 55-53 loss to LSU. Darxia Morris and Jasmine Dixon lead UCLA in scoring with 11.4 and 11.0 points per game, respectively. Nikki Caldwell is in her third season as head coach of the Bruins, who went 25-9 overall and were 15-3 in Pac-10 play with a second-place finish in the conference on the way to a trip to the NCAA Second Round. USC is 43-35 all-time against UCLA. The teams met three times last year, with USC winning 70-63 at the Galen Center and falling 74-56 in Westwood during conference play before UCLA got a 59-53 win over USC in the Pac-10 Tournament semifinals.
RANK AND FILE
The Trojans turned some heads in the early goings of the season in serving up upsets of two ranked teams in USC's first four games. The Women of Troy opened the year with a 79-73 win over No. 22 Gonzaga and later handed out a 71-63 win over No. 17 Georgia. Both those wins came at the Galen Center, where USC is currently a perfect 5-0 so far. On the road against two top-10 teams, USC took a 75-50 loss at No. 4 Duke and a tight 69-66 loss at No. 4 Xavier during nonconference play. Currently 2-2 against ranked opponents, USC's clash with UCLA marks the Trojans' fifth ranked opponent to date.
ROAD RUNNERS
USC is now 5-3 overall in road games, including a 1-1 split in neutral territory. Up until last week's trip through Fresno and Washington state, the Trojans had spent half their time outside the Pacific Time Zone, venturing into Eastern Time for games at Duke and NC State and the Vanderbilt Tournament to go along with a quick visit to Central Time to face Xavier. Overall, USC went 2-3 on trips outside PST, and is currently 6-0 in games played within the state of California.
AWARD-WINNING OPENING
Briana Gilbreath kicked off the season with a bang, standing as the first player of the season to pick up Pac-10 Player of the Week honors. It was the first career selection for Gilbreath, who opened the year with a double-double to lead USC to an upset win over No. 22 Gonzaga in the Trojans' season opener. Gilbreath had a game-high 21 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, scoring 15 of her final 21 points during the second half in helping to push USC to a comeback win. The 21-point outing was just a point away from Gilbreath's career high. Three weeks later, Gilbreath repeated as the Pac-10 Player of the Week --- a feat last achieved by a Trojan in 1996 by Tina Thompson. In a long road trip through a few more time zones, Gilbreath beat her previous career high scoring total in back-to-back games. Up against the nation's No. 4 team in Xavier, Gilbreath had a double-double with a career-best 26 points to go with 12 rebounds for her third double-double of the year. Gilbreath's four 3-pointers hit in the Xavier game also was a new career high. Still on the road, the Trojans then visited NC State, with Gilbreath leading the way again with 23 points and a team-high seven rebounds as the Trojans beat the Wolfpack 84-75 to wrap up a strong road split. Gilbreath hit seven 3-pointers across the two games to go with five assists and four steals. Gilbreath is now averaging a team-high 14.5 points and averages 8.0 rebounds per game for the Trojans.
PAC-10 HAT TRICK
Ashley Corral snagged USC's third Pac-10 Player of the Week honor this season -- the junior's second pick of her career -- after helping lead the Trojans to wins at the Women of Troy Basketball Tournament. Already recently locked in as USC's No. 3 all-time 3-point shooter, Corral ran her total up to 162 career threes in providing game-high scoring for USC in wins over Colorado and San Diego State. Named to the All-Tournament Team, Corral coupled 14 points against future conference-mate Colorado with a team-high seven rebounds as USC beat the Buffs 68-54. The next day, Corral opened the championship game against San Diego State with a 5-of-5 effort from the floor, scoring USC's first 10 points of the game and finishing with 23 points to go with six assists and five rebounds, providing key points for USC as the Trojans pulled out of a four-point game to beat the Aztecs 74-64. Corral's selection marks the first time since 1996-97 that the Trojans have had more than two Player of the Week honors in a single season as she joins Briana Gilbreath's pair of picks to date. Corral is currently No. 2 in scoring with 13.5 ppg and is averaging 4.2 assists per game.
ALL-AMERICAN GIRLS
The USC roster is loaded up with six All-American honorees. Five returning players were McDonald's All-Americans on their way into Troy: Ashley Corral, Jacki Gemelos, Briana Gilbreath, Stefanie Gilbreath and Christina Marinacci. Also coming in with All-American accolades is WBCA honoree Cassie Harberts, who kicked off her career as a Trojan with a 16-point outing in her USC debut, and who recently notched her first career double-double. For the first time in five seasons, USC started the season with all its All-Americans healthy and on the court. This year's crew is accounting for 86 percent of USC's scoring. Briana Gilbreath, Corral and Gemelos are all averaging in double figures to date and have hit double digits all together in four of USC's current six-game win streak, with Marinacci and Harberts not far behind at 9.6 and 8.8 ppg, respectively, and Stefanie Gilbreath getting back her game with 3.1 ppg in seven appearances so far. Marinacci also leads the pack on the boards with a whopping 8.4 rpg to date.
JACKI'S BACK
After almost four years on the sidelines with knee injuries, Jacki Gemelos -- a high school All-American and the nation's top recruit as a freshman in 2006 -- took to the court for the first game action of her Trojan career on Feb. 4, 2010 at Cal. She already has completed her undergraduate degree, but this week, she's playing in the first USC season opener of her career. Now currently pursuing a master's in gerontology, Gemelos has started her first full season of competition healthy and strong. Gemelos has been granted one more season of eligibility after this 2010-11 season. After a career night of 27 points at Fresno State, Gemelos is the team's third leading scorer with 12.8 points per game and is a near-flawless 24-of-28 from the free-throw line.
SENIOR STRENGTH
At the head of the class for 2010-11 is 6-foot-5 senior center Kari LaPlante -- one of only two true seniors on the USC roster. She and Michelle Franco were USC's lone freshmen in 2007 and will finish their careers having split time between two different coaching staffs at Troy. Under the defensive-minded Cooper's guidance last year as a junior, LaPlante picked up accolades with Pac-10 All-Defensive Honorable Mention. LaPlante is currently averaging 4.8 points and 5.3 rebounds per game as USC's starting center.
FAMILY REUNION
When Stefanie Gilbreath hit the court for the first time in USC's season opener on Nov. 12, it was a long-awaited on-court reunion for USC's sister act. Older by a year, Stefanie now beats out junior sister Briana in remaining eligibility. It had been four years since the pair lasted suited up in the same uniform for gametime -- when Stefanie was a senior in high school and Briana was a junior at Cinco Ranch High in Katy, Texas. They both came out of high school as McDonald's All-Americans, although Stefanie's knee troubles stalled out her Trojan debut while Briana picked up Pac-10 Freshman of the Year recognition and All-Pac-10 Team honors in her first two seasons at USC. In the Nov. 12 Gilbreath-sister-debut, Briana tallied a double-double in 30 minutes of action, and Stefanie registered her first basket and rebound and steal in her first 5 minutes on the floor as a Trojan.
LAST YEAR
Under first-year collegiate head coach Michael Cooper -- a former NBA star with the Los Angeles Lakers and a WNBA head coach for the Los Angeles Sparks -- USC finished 19-12 overall and carried a six-game winning streak into the Pac-10 Tournament semifinals. With Cooper's guidance, the Women of Troy set several new program records in that 2009-10 season, posting USC's best-ever free-throw percentage (.725) while tallying the fewest turnovers (462) and fewest fouls (484) committed in Trojan history.
PAC-10 COMES HOME
As in 2009 and 2010, postseason play kicks off on USC's home court. This season's 2011 Pac-10 Tournament will have a somewhat difference format from past seasons in that action will be split between the Galen Center and Staples Center. The first two round of play are all lined up for USC's home court of Galen Center. The semifinals and championship game, however, will move over to Staples Center to run alongside the Pac-10 Men's Tournament. The women's tourney will run March 9-12. Visit www.pac-10.org for more information and for tickets.
GREAT PATIENCE
Arguably the most inspiring aspect of the year to come has been seeing two hard-working Trojans finally take the floor for their first full seasons at USC. After being knocked back by multiple knee injuries, the 2006 top recruit in the nation and McDonald's All-American Jacki Gemelos returned to competition for the final 11 games of last season. Meanwhile, stuck on the sideline for her third straight season due to knee injuries was Stefanie Gilbreath -- another McDonald's All-American out of high school. It's been a heartbreakingly long road back for both Women of Troy, but this season marks a long-awaited milestone for Gemelos and Gilbreath. They both appeared in USC's season opener, and stepped right into their roles as contributors for the Women of Troy.
LEADING THE PAC
USC has four Pac-10 honorees back on the roster this season. Junior guards Ashley Corral and Briana Gilbreath were USC's leading scorers last year, and both landed on the 2010 All-Pac-10 Team as sophomores. Gilbreath was the Pac-10's Co-Defensive Player of the Year as well. Senior center Kari LaPlante earned 2010 Pac-10 Defensive Honorable Mention, and forward Christina Marinacci was a Pac-10 All-Freshman Honorable Mention recipient last season.
THE NEW CLASS
The other key element of added success for USC in the coming season is Michael Cooper's first class of recruits. Ranked No. 7 in the nation (according to hoopgurlz.com) as a group, the newest Trojans on the roster are a well-rounded group of impact players. USC's 2010 freshman class includes WBCA All-American Cassie Harberts, who comes in as the nation's No. 11 ranked recruit. Speedy guard Len'Nique Brown and the versatile Desireé Bradley bolster the Trojan backcourt with even more firepower. The rest of the freshman class includes two true posts in 6-4 Lauren White and 6-4 Thaddesia Southall, although Southall will be sidelined for the year in recovering from knee surgery for an injury sustained in her final high school season.
