Monday, December 18
Los Angeles, Calif.
7:00 PM
USC
9-0,0-0Pac-12
93
vs
44
Cal State Fullerton
4-5,0-0Big West
1
2
3
4
F
Cal St. Fullerton
5
15
16
8
44
Southern California
20
30
20
23
93
Team Stats
CSF
USC
FG%
.305
.500
3FG%
.190
.533
FT%
.800
.846
RB
31
40
TO
23
12
STL
6
14
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
23
FGM
7
3FGM
3
FTM
6
Pts
17
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
4
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
5
FTM
0
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
C
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
C/F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballPhoto by: Katie Chin
Five Trojans Hit Double Digits In No. 6 USC Women’s Basketball’s 93-44 Win Over Cal State Fullerton
December 18, 2023 | Women's Basketball
Taylor Bigby hits a career-high five 3-pointers as USC sets a new program record with 16 threes made.
LOS ANGELES — The No. 6 USC women's basketball team drained an all-time high 16 threes in a high-powered 93-44 win over visiting Cal State Fullerton tonight at Galen Center. Taylor Bigby landed a career-high five 3-pointers to stand as one of five Trojans in double-digits in the win, which improved USC to 9-0 overall to mark back-to-back 9-0 starts for just the second time in program history.
Bigby nailed four first-half 3-pointers and was one of three Trojans in double digits to help the home team lead things 50-20 at halftime. McKenzie Forbes led all with 13 points at the break, with Bigby at 12 and JuJu Watkins with 11 for a Trojan team that was shooting 54.5 percent from the floor through the first 20 minutes of play. Cal State Fullerton shot 29 percent the floor in the first half, and USC led on the boards 23-12 by halftime. By the final buzzer, USC had shot at a 50-percent clip from the floor, going 53.3 percent from beyond the arc while outrebounding the Titans 40-31 overall. CSF finished up at 30.5 percent from the floor and was 2-of-15 from 3-point range.
Watkins wrapped with a game-high 23 points to lead the Trojans in scoring for the ninth time this season. She was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line and served up six assists. Also netting double digits for USC were McKenzie Forbes (17 points), Taylor Bigby (15), Kayla Padilla (13) and Clarice Akunwafo (10). Cal State Fullerton was led by 14 points from Kathryn Neff.
The Titans struck first, only to see the Trojans blast off on a 20-0 run that featured 3-pointers from four Trojans. JuJu Watkins almost singlehandedly fueled the last seven points of that rally, serving up an assist on a Clarice Akunwafo bucket that made it 15-2, then serving up a pair of blocks around a 3-pointer and another bucket as USC led it 20-2 with 3:00 left in the first. Cal State Fullerton broke almost seven minutes of silence with a 3-pointer that topped of the first frame as a 20-5 USC advantage. The Trojans manufactured a 13-0 surge to open the second, with Taylor Bigby and Kayla Padilla landing threes in that push to lead it 33-5 not four minutes into the quarter. Bigby would plant her third three of the half soon after, and then Watkins got herself into double figures with a strike that tugged the Trojans ahead 40-11 at 4:15. Bigby and Forbes would also move into double digits before the break, as each planted another 3-pointer into the score column for the Trojans, who gripped a 50-20 lead at halftime.
Threes kept falling for USC, as Bigby and Padilla connected yet again and Kayla Williams got in on the 3-point action to tug the Trojans ahead 70-34. Padilla got into double digits thanks to two more threes landed, and USC was up 70-36 entering the fourth. Watkins would bury two more threes in those final 10 minutes, while Forbes delivered another one of her own. With USC's last bucket of the night, Williams secured her 1,000th career point, and the Trojans would emerge with a final 93-44 win over the visiting Titans.
NEXT:
USC's in-state action continues this week with a trip to take on Long Beach State at 2 p.m. on Thursday (Dec. 21) at Walter Pyramid. After a short holiday break, the Trojans set up for their Pac-12 opener at UCLA with a 5 p.m. clash against the Bruins on Dec. 30 at Pauley Pavilion.
NOTABLE:
- Now 9-0 overall, USC has recorded back-to-back 9-0 starts for just the second time, going back to the 1983-84 (10-0) and 1984-85 (10-0) seasons.
- USC held Cal State Fullerton to five points in the first quarter, marking the fewest points scored by a USC opponent in any quarter this season.
- USC scored a season-high 50 first-half points — the most points it has scored in a half since Nov. 11, 2021
- USC's nine first-half 3-pointers marked the most threes made in a half this season.
- USC recorded a season-high 25 assists.
- USC set a new program record in making 16 threes tonight.
- USC has now shot over 50 percent from the floor in five different games this season — the most such games in a season since seven in 2014-15.
- USC's 93 points scored matched the most in a game this season.
- USC had a season-high five players score in double digits.
- USC shot a season-best 84.6 percent (11-of-13) from the free-throw line
- USC recorded a season-high 14 steals.
- SR Kayla Williams scored her 1,000th career point tonight, now with 1,001.
- FR JuJu Watkins led USC in scoring for the ninth straight game, finishing with 23 points.
- Watkins also had a career-high three blocks.
- RS SO Taylor Bigby made a career-high five 3-pointers and tied career highs with four assists and two blocks.
- GS McKenzie Forbes recorded a season-high 17 points.
- JR Clarice Akunwafo tallied a season high 10 points and was perfect from the field (5-5) for the second time this season (3-3 vs. Le Moyne on Nov. 13 2023).
- Akunwafo recorded a career-high two steals and matched a career-best with three assists.
- GS Kayla Padilla scored a season-high 13 points and tied her season high of three 3-pointers made.
- FR Malia Samuels and RS FR Aaliyah Gayles pulled in career-high rebounds with six and three, respectively.
- Gayles also matched her season high of four points scored.
- USC extended its nonconference home winning streak to 16 straight games.
- USC was missing three players tonight: Rayah Marshall (illness), Dominique Darius (illness) and Kaitlyn Davis (injury).
Bigby nailed four first-half 3-pointers and was one of three Trojans in double digits to help the home team lead things 50-20 at halftime. McKenzie Forbes led all with 13 points at the break, with Bigby at 12 and JuJu Watkins with 11 for a Trojan team that was shooting 54.5 percent from the floor through the first 20 minutes of play. Cal State Fullerton shot 29 percent the floor in the first half, and USC led on the boards 23-12 by halftime. By the final buzzer, USC had shot at a 50-percent clip from the floor, going 53.3 percent from beyond the arc while outrebounding the Titans 40-31 overall. CSF finished up at 30.5 percent from the floor and was 2-of-15 from 3-point range.
Watkins wrapped with a game-high 23 points to lead the Trojans in scoring for the ninth time this season. She was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line and served up six assists. Also netting double digits for USC were McKenzie Forbes (17 points), Taylor Bigby (15), Kayla Padilla (13) and Clarice Akunwafo (10). Cal State Fullerton was led by 14 points from Kathryn Neff.
The Titans struck first, only to see the Trojans blast off on a 20-0 run that featured 3-pointers from four Trojans. JuJu Watkins almost singlehandedly fueled the last seven points of that rally, serving up an assist on a Clarice Akunwafo bucket that made it 15-2, then serving up a pair of blocks around a 3-pointer and another bucket as USC led it 20-2 with 3:00 left in the first. Cal State Fullerton broke almost seven minutes of silence with a 3-pointer that topped of the first frame as a 20-5 USC advantage. The Trojans manufactured a 13-0 surge to open the second, with Taylor Bigby and Kayla Padilla landing threes in that push to lead it 33-5 not four minutes into the quarter. Bigby would plant her third three of the half soon after, and then Watkins got herself into double figures with a strike that tugged the Trojans ahead 40-11 at 4:15. Bigby and Forbes would also move into double digits before the break, as each planted another 3-pointer into the score column for the Trojans, who gripped a 50-20 lead at halftime.
Threes kept falling for USC, as Bigby and Padilla connected yet again and Kayla Williams got in on the 3-point action to tug the Trojans ahead 70-34. Padilla got into double digits thanks to two more threes landed, and USC was up 70-36 entering the fourth. Watkins would bury two more threes in those final 10 minutes, while Forbes delivered another one of her own. With USC's last bucket of the night, Williams secured her 1,000th career point, and the Trojans would emerge with a final 93-44 win over the visiting Titans.
NEXT:
USC's in-state action continues this week with a trip to take on Long Beach State at 2 p.m. on Thursday (Dec. 21) at Walter Pyramid. After a short holiday break, the Trojans set up for their Pac-12 opener at UCLA with a 5 p.m. clash against the Bruins on Dec. 30 at Pauley Pavilion.
NOTABLE:
- Now 9-0 overall, USC has recorded back-to-back 9-0 starts for just the second time, going back to the 1983-84 (10-0) and 1984-85 (10-0) seasons.
- USC held Cal State Fullerton to five points in the first quarter, marking the fewest points scored by a USC opponent in any quarter this season.
- USC scored a season-high 50 first-half points — the most points it has scored in a half since Nov. 11, 2021
- USC's nine first-half 3-pointers marked the most threes made in a half this season.
- USC recorded a season-high 25 assists.
- USC set a new program record in making 16 threes tonight.
- USC has now shot over 50 percent from the floor in five different games this season — the most such games in a season since seven in 2014-15.
- USC's 93 points scored matched the most in a game this season.
- USC had a season-high five players score in double digits.
- USC shot a season-best 84.6 percent (11-of-13) from the free-throw line
- USC recorded a season-high 14 steals.
- SR Kayla Williams scored her 1,000th career point tonight, now with 1,001.
- FR JuJu Watkins led USC in scoring for the ninth straight game, finishing with 23 points.
- Watkins also had a career-high three blocks.
- RS SO Taylor Bigby made a career-high five 3-pointers and tied career highs with four assists and two blocks.
- GS McKenzie Forbes recorded a season-high 17 points.
- JR Clarice Akunwafo tallied a season high 10 points and was perfect from the field (5-5) for the second time this season (3-3 vs. Le Moyne on Nov. 13 2023).
- Akunwafo recorded a career-high two steals and matched a career-best with three assists.
- GS Kayla Padilla scored a season-high 13 points and tied her season high of three 3-pointers made.
- FR Malia Samuels and RS FR Aaliyah Gayles pulled in career-high rebounds with six and three, respectively.
- Gayles also matched her season high of four points scored.
- USC extended its nonconference home winning streak to 16 straight games.
- USC was missing three players tonight: Rayah Marshall (illness), Dominique Darius (illness) and Kaitlyn Davis (injury).
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