Friday, February 7
Berkeley, Calif.
7:00 PM
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California
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Photo by: Josh Dunst/USC Athletics
USC Women Hit The Bay Area To Clash With Cal And Stanford
February 04, 2020 | Women's Basketball, Features
Trojans visit the Golden Bears on Friday night before a journey to take on the No. 6 Cardinal on Sunday.
USC (11-10, 3-7) at California (9-12, 1-9)
Haas Pavilion | Berkeley, Calif.
Friday, Feb. 7 | 7 p.m.
Series Record: USC leads 40-33
Home: 25-11 | Away: 14-20 | Neutral: 1-2
Last Meeting: W, 86-76 (Feb. 15, 2019 • Los Angeles)
Current Streak: USC won 1
TV: P12LA (PbB: Kate Scott; Analyst: Monique Billings)
USC (11-10, 3-7) at #6 Stanford (20-2, 9-1)
Maples Pavilion | Stanford, Calif.
Sunday, Feb. 9 | 12 p.m.Â
Series Record: USC trails 20-62
Home: 12-27 | Away: 7-30 | Neutral: 1-5
Last Meeting: L, 69-67 (Feb. 17, 2019 • Los Angeles)
Current Streak: USC lost 9
TV: P12LA/BA (PbB: Brian Webber; Analyst: Mary Murphy)
THIS WEEKÂ
USC has more road work ahead with a trip to the Bay Area next week. The Trojans (11-10, 3-7 Pac-12) will first visit California (9-12, 1-9) in a 7 p.m. game on Friday (Feb. 7) in Berkeley. From there, USC heads to Palo Alto to take on No. 6 Stanford (20-2, 9-1) at 12 p.m. on Sunday (Feb. 9).
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IN THE NATION
USC is unranked in the latest AP and Coaches polls.Â
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SCOUTING CAL
The Golden Bears are 9-12 overall and 1-9 in Pac-12 play after losing 92-66 as WSU and beating Washington 81-74 in overtime last week. Jaelyn Brown leads Cal in scoring with 14.1 points per game, and CJ West leads on the boards with 7.1 rebounds per game. In a series dating back to the 1978-79 season, USC is 40-33 all-time against the Bears. Last season, USC lost to Cal 66-59 in Berkeley and then beat the Bears 86-76 at Galen Center.
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SCOUTING STANFORD
The No. 6 Cardinal enters the week 20-2 overall and 9-1Â in Pac-12 play after beating Washington 58-41 and WSU 71-49 last week. Lexie Hull leads Stanford with 13.5 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. In a series dating back to the 1978-79 season, USC is 20-62 all-time against the Cardinal with losses in the last nine meetings. USC's last win was a 72-68 victory in the 2014 Pac-12 Tournament semifinal. Last season, USC lost 72-64 at Stanford and lost 69-67 at Galen Center.
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INJURY REPORT
Shalexxus Aaron (foot) and Madison Campbell (back) have not yet competed for USC this season due to injuries. Stephanie Watts (knee) has missed recent games, and her return is uncertain.
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LAST ACTION
USC lost on the road last week against two ranked opponents. First, the Trojans took another ranked opponent into overtime, stretching an epic battle with No. 19 host Arizona State into triple overtime before a back-breaking 3-pointer from the Sun Devils stole a 76-75 victory from the visiting Trojans in Tempe. USC had overcome a 12-point deficit and got late buckets to force overtime, then double overtime, then triple overtime — the first for USC since 2001 — until that heart-breaking three snapped that trend. The game was USC's second straight OT game and third of the year. USC had never before had back-to-back overtime games on record in program history. A combined 28 first-half turnovers made for a herky jerky first 20 minutes, although the host Sun Devils were able to steady their ship by shooting 48 percent from the floor to USC's 36 percent. That helped account for ASU's 28-20 lead by halftime. In the next stretch, USC took far better care of the ball, committing just six turnovers in the next 35 minutes of play while ASU committed 13. USC outscored the Sun Devils 31-23 in the third and fourth quarters to bring up the epic overtime battle. By the final buzzer at the close of triple-OT, USC had shot 38.4 percent from the floor behind ASU's 39.5 percent. USC was 6-of-22 from 3-point range while ASU went 4-of-16. From the line, USC was 13-of-15, and ASU was 12-of-18. The Sun Devils also won out on the boards 53-42. USC was paced on the offensive end by freshman Endyia Rogers' 30 points. Fellow freshman Alissa Pili was next with 18, and Aliyah Jeune added 13 for the Trojans. ASU received 24 points from Reili Richardson, who also landed the game-winning 3-pointer. Robbi Ryan added 11 points, and Kiara Russell had 10. In all, USC and ASU fought through 14 lead changes and seven ties in 55 minutes of competition. Two days later in Tucson, USC was undone by a rough fourth quarter, taking a 73-57 loss to No. 16 Arizona. Coming off that triple-overtime battle less than 48 hours earlier in Tempe, USC got within four of the Wildcats before stumbling late. USC stared down a 14-point deficit as it heated up from the perimeter to make things interesting tin Tucson. The Trojans were shooting 32.1 percent from the floor to Arizona's 34.4 percent as USC was down 31-25 by the break. The rebounding tally to that point was 22-18 in favor of the Wildcats. USC carved things down to a four-point game entering the fourth, but the Wildcats dug back in and stayed hot to overpowers the Trojans. Arizona wrapped up shooting 46.3 percent from the floor, while USC was at 40.7 percent. The Wildcats won out on the boards 35-27. USC received a game-high 21 points from freshman Alissa Pili, who had USC's first 10 points of the day. Arizona had three players hit double digits — Aari McDonald (20 points), Cate Reese (18) and Dominique McBride (14). Reese also had 17 rebounds for the Wildcats.
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BEATING THE BRUINS
USC was down by six in double overtime and fought back to upset No. 7 UCLA 70-68 on Jan. 17 at Galen Center, handing the Bruins their first loss of the season to take out the only remaining undefeated team in the nation. Aliyah Jeune was the driving force for the Trojans in this one, hitting six 3-pointers and finishing with 27 points to go along with a 13 rebounds. But it was freshman Alissa Pili who calmly converted a three-point play with 28 seconds left that lifted USC to the winning margin, and USC fended off its crosstown rival in the final stretch to earn the victory. USC trailed by six out of the gates but eked out a slim lead, fighting through seven lead changes in the first 10 minutes. During that time, though, UCLA went cold, landing a go-ahead 3-pointer with 4:10 on the clock and then stalling out. Only free throws fell for the Bruins for the rest of the half — two in the first quarter and only two in the second while the Trojans crafted a 30-17 halftime lead with a 12-0 rally to top it off. USC would wrap the first half shooting 39.4 percent from the floor to UCLA's 18.2 percent. USC also had the edge on the boards 25-21 by the break. Madness ensued as the rivals went toe-to-toe through double overtime for the first time in the programs' history. At the close of regulation, UCLA had warmed up to 26.8 percent from the floor while USC was at 37.5. By the final buzzer of the second overtime, a victorious USC had shot 39.1 percent overall to UCLA's 29.9 percent. Both teams hit eight 3-pointers — and made eight free throws — in the game, while USC won out on the boards 57-47. The Trojans saw Aliyah Jeune match her USC best of 27 points while notching her first double-double as a Trojan with her career-high 13 rebounds. Alissa Pili secured her sixth double-double with her 19 points and 17 rebounds, and Desiree Caldwell joined her teammates in double figures with 10 points on the night, while Kayla Overbeck hauled in 10 rebounds for the Trojan cause. In all, USC and UCLA fought through 15 lead changes before the Trojans edged ahead to stay.Â
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PILI DOUBLES UP ON PAC-12 PICKS
After providing the game-winning basket with 29 seconds left in double overtime to upset undefeated rival UCLA, freshman forward Alissa Pili earned her first honors as the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week on Jan. 20. Pili punched up 19 points and hauled in a career-high 17 rebounds in the 70-68 victory over the No. 7 Bruins. Pili's heroic three-point play in the final stretch of double overtime was the difference in USC's win, which was the Trojans' first over a top-10 opponent since 2017. The victory also snapped a five-game losing skid for USC, while also putting a stop to UCLA's claim as the only undefeated team in the nation. With her 19 points and 17 rebounds, Pili recorded her sixth double-double of the year along with her 11th game scoring in double figures. In the second 5-minute overtime alone, Pili had six points and four rebounds to help anchor USC's comeback from a six-point deficit to victory. Pili was the first Pac-12 honoree from USC this season. The last Trojan to be named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week had been Shalexxus Aaron on Feb. 5, 2019. Two weeks later, the do-it-all forward ran her double-digit streak out to six games and kept USC's Pac-12 Freshman of the Week win streak alive in capturing her second selection for the weekly honor from the conference. With teammate Endyia Rogers' the week prior, this is the first time in program history that USC has had multiple Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honorees in a single season. On this latest stretch of Pac-12 play, Pili scored 18 points in a triple-OT loss at No. 19 ASU and served up 21 in a loss at No. 16 Arizona. She scored the first 10 points for USC against the Wildcats en route to her team-best 15th double-digit outing. Pili leads USC 18.1 points and 8.7 rebounds per game to date
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ROGERS TO THE RESCUE
Endyia Rogers set new career highs in back-to-back USC victories and earned herself a pick as the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week on Jan. 27, making it back-to-back weeks with a Trojan on that honor roll after Alissa Pili's award on Jan. 20. Rogers upped her previous career-high with a 21-point outing in a win over Washington State before going even bigger with 29 points — the most by a USC player this season — in an overtime victory over Washington. Rogers also added a career-high nine assists versus the Huskies, and poured out 24 points in the last 25 minutes of the game. Two of those points came from the free-throw line with eight seconds remaining in overtime as the freshman secured victory for her team. She had also scored the game-tying bucket to force overtime six minutes earlier. In her weekend's work, Rogers had back-to-back 20-point games for the first time in her collegiate career. Rogers is the fifth Trojan all-time to be named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week.
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THE "VETS"Â
Of USC's three seniors on the roster, only post Kayla Overbeck has logged minutes in Cardinal and Gold. Overbeck joined the Trojans as a transfer from Vanderbilt last season. She's flanked on the roster this season by two other transfers — guards Stephanie Watts (from North Carolina) and Aliyah Jeune (from Morehead State) — who have chosen to play out their remaining eligibility as Trojans. Overbeck, Shalexxus Aaron and sophomore guard Desiree Caldwell are USC's three returners from the 2018-19 season that saw the Trojans come up just shy of a postseason push with a 17-13 overall record. Â
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THE NEW CLASS
Nine new faces are on the roster for 2019-20. In addition to grad transfers Aliyah Jeune and Stephanie Watts, USC has seven true freshmen in the mix, with two of those young guns standing out as USC's top scorers to date. Freshman forward Alissa Pili leads USC with 14.4 points and 8.4 rebounds points per game so far, while guard Endyia Rogers is just a step behind, averaging 13.1 points per game. Pili leads with 15 double-digit games to date and also already has hauled in eight double-doubles as a Trojan. Rogers is next with 14 double-digit efforts. They have fellow freshman Angel Jackson also making an impact in the paint with 6.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per game, while the rest of the freshman class makes for a talented back court in guards Madison Campbell, Alyson Miura, India Otto and Kyra White.Â
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PREP STARS
Several Women of Troy had especially decorated high school careers. Two were McDonald's All-Americans — Angel Jackson and Stephanie Watts — with Jackson also earning Jordan Brand honors, and Watts as an Naismith High School All-American honoree. Three Trojans also were their state Player of the Year — Watts (North Carolina),  Alissa Pili (Alaska — a three-time honoree) and Endyia Rogers (Texas).
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STEPH SCORES A WATCH LIST SPOT
As she set up for her first season as a Trojan, grad transfer Stephanie Watts earned a place on the Preseason Watch List for the prestigious Ann Meyers Drysdale Award. Watts is one of 20 candidates on the Preseason Watch List, as announced Oct. 22 by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Watts joins the Women of Troy this season as a grad transfer from North Carolina, where she was the 2016 ACC Freshman of the Year and later led the team in 3-pointers made as a redshirt junior last season. In her three seasons as a Tar Heel, she scored 1,320 points. In her final season, she averaged 15.2 point, 5.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game while knocking down 82 threes. Named after the first player, male or female, named to the All-America Team in four straight college seasons, the annual Ann Meyers Drysdale Award — in its third year — recognizes the top shooting guard in women's NCAA Division I college basketball.
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LAST SEASONÂ
USC finished up the 2018-19 season with a 17-13 overall record after going 7-11 in Pac-12 play and with a loss in the Pac-12 Tournament first round. Seniors Aliyah Mazyck and Mariya Moore and junior Minyon Moore earned All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention, with Mazyck and Minyon Moore both also landing on the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team.Â
Women's Basketball Head Coach Lindsay Gottlieb Media Availability 9/18/25
Thursday, September 18
USC WBB's Lindsay Gottlieb, Rayah Marshall and Talia von Oelhoffen | Trojan Press Conference
Monday, March 31
USC WBB heads to the Elite 8, defeats Kansas State in Sweet 16 | Rapid Reaction
Saturday, March 29
Kennedy Smith on USC WBB heading to the Elite Eight, Trojan freshmen getting the job done
Saturday, March 29
