University Southern California Trojans
Players Mentioned

Photo by: John McGillen
No. 8 Seeded USC Women’s Basketball Opens NCAA Action vs. No. 9 Seed South Dakota State
March 13, 2023 | Women's Basketball
Trojans are off to Blacksburg, Va., for their first NCAA appearance since 2014.
NCAA FIRST ROUND
[8] USC (21-9) vs. [9] South Dakota State (28-5)
Series Record: Tied 1-1
First Meeting: USC 66, SDSU 59 [12/11/04 • Los Angeles]
Last Meeting: SDSU 67, USC 63 [11/17/06 • Brookings, S.D.]
TV: ESPNews (Talent: Angel Gray & Helen Williams)
THIS WEEK
USC has captured a No. 8 seed into its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2014. The Women of Troy (21-9) will make their 17th overall trip to the tourney and first under second-year USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb. After posting its best Pac-12 record since that 2013-14 season, USC has scored a trip to Blacksburg, Va., to open its 2023 NCAA campaign against No. 9 seed South Dakota State (28-5) at approximately 8 p.m. ET on Friday (March 17) with a shot at facing either host No. 1 Virginia Tech (27-4) or No. 16 Chattanooga (20-12) in the NCAA Second Round on Sunday (March 19).
NCAA NOTES
• USC is 29-14 in the NCAA Tournament, with two NCAA title victories (1983 and 1984).
• This is the Trojans' 17th trip to the NCAA Tournament.
• USC is one of seven Pac-12 teams in this year's NCAA bracket.
• USC's last appearance was in 2014 after the Trojans captured an automatic berth by way of winning the Trojans' first-ever Pac-12 Tournament championship. USC was the first team ever to play four games in the conference tournament and won all four.
• USC was a No. 9 seed in the 2014 NCAA tourney, falling in the first round to St. John's 71-68 in Knoxville, Tenn.
• The last time USC earned an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament was 2006.
• Head coach Lindsay Gottlieb has now led three different programs to the NCAA Tournament — UC Santa Barbara (2009), California (seven appearances in eight seasons) and USC.
• Three current Trojans in their first season at USC have previous NCAA experience:
- Kadi Sissoko: 2019 as a freshman at Syracuse
- Koi Love: 2022 as a junior at Arizona
- Destiny Littleton: 2021 and 2022 at South Carolina (2022 NCAA Champion), 2018 and 2019 at Texas
• With the USC men's at-large selection to the 2023 March Madness, this marks the first time since 1997 that both the USC men's and women's programs have made the NCAA Tournament in the season.
• USC has played seven other teams in the 68-team field of the 2023 NCAA Tournament, posting a 4-6 record against those opponents this season (1-1 against No. 1 seed Stanford; 0-1 against No. 2 seed Utah; 0-1 against No. 4 seed Texas; 0-2 against No. 4 seed UCLA; 2-0 against No. 5 seed Washington State; 1-0 against No. 6 seed Colorado; and 0-1 against No. 7 seed Arizona).
FOLLOW ALONG
ESPN will be televising the first- and second-round games in Blacksburg, with Angel Gray and Helen Williams on the calls. USC's first game vs. South Dakota State will air on ESPNews.
IN THE POLLS
USC spent one week ranked No. 25 in the national AP rankings — its first AP ranking since 2016. Currently, USC is receiving votes the AP poll this week. USC enters this week rated 31 in the NET rankings.
USC IN THE NATION
USC enters the week ranked as the No. 18 team in the nation in scoring defense, holding teams to an average of 54.8 points per game. The Trojans also are top-25 in three other categories: blocks per game (4th - 5.7 bpg), field goal percentage defense (11th‚ 35.4%) and 3-point percentage defense (25th — 27.3%).
TROJANS IN THE NATION
Individually, USC enters the week with players making their marks on the national stat sheets. With 3.37 blocks per game, Rayah Marshall ranks No. 2 in the nation, and she's No. 7 in total blocks (91). Marshall also is making her mark on the boards, ranked No. 8 with her 11.4 rebounds per game and No. 6 with 8.3 defensive rebounds per game. Another Trojan in the nation's top-25 to date is Destiny Littleton, who ranks 23rd with a free-throw percentage of 87.8.
PAC-12 PICK-EM
USC landed three players on the All-Pac-12 Team for the first time in program history, as Destiny Littleton, Rayah Marshall and Kadi Sissoko have each made a name for themselves this season for their work in the Trojans' successful 2022-23 campaign. Additionally, in a nod to USC's ferocious defensive efforts, Marshall has picked up a place on the All-Defensive Team while Okako Adika and Kayla Williams have earned All-Defensive Honorable Mention. That secured Pac-12 accolades for USC's entire starting lineup, which helped the Trojans to 21 wins as they entered postseason play. On March 1, the Pac-12 released its Pac-12 Media Awards, as selected by voting Pac-12 media members. Marshall and Sissoko earned All-Pac-12-Team honors there, with Marshall also picked up All-Defensive Team accolades.
BLOCK WATCH
With blocks in 50 straight games as USC enters the 2023 NCAA Tournament, Rayah Marshall's powerful blocking ability has her locked in as one of USC's finest blockers in program history. With 192 career blocks, the sophomore already ranks among USC's top Trojans: No. 1 Lisa Leslie (321), No. 2 Cheryl Miller (320), No. 3 Paula McGee (190), Briana Gilbreath (168) and Michelle Campbell (162). And with 91 blocks this season alone, Marshall ranks third all-time behind Leslie's 95 and 94 blocks tallied in her junior and senior seasons, respectively.
TRANSFER TIME
USC grad transfers Kadi Sissoko and Destiny Littleton have emerged as top impact players in their first season as Trojans. Sissoko and Littleton are averaging 15.6 and 13.9 points per game, respectively. Littleton has provided double digits in a team-high 24 games this season, and Sissoko has done so in 19 games in spite of being sidelined for five games with injuries. Sissoko also has recorded five games with 20+ points and has laid claim to four double-doubles as a Trojan to date. And during her 30-point performance at Cal, Sissoko reached the 1,000-point mark for her career.
SMART START
The USC squad set new academic records with its performance in the classroom in Fall 2022. The group's Fall 2022 semester GPA of 3.344 and cumulative team GPA of 3.329 were the best marks on record for the Women of Troy.
DESTINY DOES IT
Guard Destiny Littleton grabbed her first honor as the Pac-12 Player of the Week after her instrumental role in leading the Trojans to a sweep of the Bay Area schools, topped off with a statement-making upset of No. 2 Stanford at Galen Center. Littleton tallied a game-high 18 points in both wins and served up five assists against Cal and six against Stanford. In the Trojans' 55-46 win over the Cardinal, Littleton played the full 40 minutes to help anchor USC's first win over an opponent ranked No. 2 or better since 2008. USC's upset also snapped the Cardinal's 39-game win streak against Pac-12 opponents. Defensively, USC held Stanford to its lowest point total since 2016. It was USC's largest margin of victory over Stanford since a 12-point win in 1993. Littleton recorded double digits in three straight games to help earn her status as the second Trojan to be named Pac-12 Player of the Week this season and 52nd all-time, following teammate Rayah Marshall's win on Jan. 2.
RAYAH REIGNS AS PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
USC sophomore Rayah Marshall was the driving force for the Trojans in a key Pac-12 road split, ringing in the new year with her first career selection as the Pac-12 Player of the Week on Jan. 2. The versatile forward made her mark in the USC history books with the most points scored by a Trojan since 2019 when she pinned up a career-high 33 points in the Trojans' win at Oregon State on Dec. 30. She'd haul in 16 rebounds in that one and keep her blocks streak alive and well with four in USC's victory. It was the just the seventh 30-point and 15-rebound double-double by any player in the NCAA this season and the first such outing by a Trojan since at least 1999-2000. Marshall also accounted for 16 of USC's 18 points in the fourth quarter against the Beavers and had over half USC's total team rebounds in the win. At No. 17 Oregon on New Year's Day, Marshall continued her blocks streak in stretching her run to 34 straight games with at least one block while also tallying her fifth consecutive double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. It was the first career Pac-12 Player of the Week honor for Marshall and the 51st overall for the Women of Troy all-time.
RAYAH'S PAC-12 POWER
USC sophomore Rayah Marshall added to her Pac-12 accolades with her earning of All-Pac-12 Preseason Honorable Mention from the media. The top-ranked freshman in the nation in blocks last season, Marshall is back for more in her second year as a Trojan. Marshall earned All-Pac-12 Defensive Honorable Mention last year, and was selected to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team. She was USC's third leading scorer with 11. 3 points per game while dominating the boards with a team-high 7.7 rebounds per game to go along with her 2.54 blocks per game — ranking her No. 12 overall in the nation in that category in 2021-22. So far in her 2022-23 sophomore campaign, Marshall has made an indelible mark with her 33-point outing in USC's win at Oregon State. Averaging 12.6 points and 11.4 rebounds per game to date, she's collected 13 double-doubles this season and is one of the nation's top blockers with her 3.37 blocks per game. She also is the only Pac-12 player to average a double-double this season.
2022-23 TROJANS
The Women of Troy are a dynamic group with solid returning talent along with a powerful group of newcomers. The 2022-23 roster features All-Pac-12 honoree Rayah Marshall and its top 3-point scorer Alyson Miura returning from last season, in addition to seven transfers ready to hit the court in Cardinal and Gold. USC's group of grad transfers features an NCAA champion in Destiny Littleton along with three standout internationals in Kadi Sissoko, Rokia Doumbia and Okako Adika. USC has also welcomed undergraduate transfers Kayla Williams, Koi Love and Taylor Bigby to the Trojan Family.
MID-YEAR MAGIC
USC's backcourt gets another boost with the addition of 5-9 guard Dominique Onu, who has come to Troy as a mid-year transfer from UCLA. After two seasons with the Bruins, the Florida native joined the Trojans in January 2023 and will compete for USC starting in Fall 2023. Ranked as the No. 26 recruit in the nation in 2021, Onu prepped at Blair Academy in New Jersey before signing on with UCLA, where she enrolled early as a true freshman in 2020-21. Onu played in 16 games as a freshman and in 27 with seven starts as a sophomore last season. She averaged 5.4 points per game in her sophomore season and set her career high with 16 points at Oregon. A native of Jacksonville, Fla., Onu helped Blair Academy win the NJISAA State title as a junior in 2020, averaging 15.8 points per game that year.
SIGNED!
JUJU WATKINS | Sierra Canyon HS (Watts, Calif.)
The USC women's basketball program has the stage set for some serious star power with the addition of the nation's top high school player, guard Juju Watkins, who signed a national letter of intent to join the Women of Troy in 2023. Heralded as the best in the USA, Watkins was named the 2022 MaxPreps National Player of the Year as a junior. A native of Watts, Calif., Watkins is sticking to her Los Angeles roots in becoming a Trojan. In addition to her numerous California state accolades, she also brings in significant international experience as a member of the United States U-17 and U-16 national teams. She was named the MVP of the 2022 FIBA U17 World Cup in helping Team USA to a gold medal at that event. And in 2021, she was the MVP of the FIBA Americas U16 Championship, where the U.S. squad also won gold. The 6-1 guard has played club ball for Sports Academy Swish GBL. And in her junior season with Sierra Canyon, Watkins piled up state honors as the Gatorade California Girls Basketball Player of the Year, CIF Mc. Basketball State Player of the Year, Los Angeles Times Player of the Year and Los Angeles Daily News Player of the Year in 2022. Most recently, Watkins won the 2023 Jersey Mike's Naismith High School Girls Player of the Year Trophy, was named the Gatorade California State Player of the Year and was selected to the 2023 USA Women's Nike Hoop Summit Team.
MALIA SAMUELS | Garfield HS (Seattle, Wash.)
USC gets another guard stronger with the addition of Seattle product Malia Samuels, who signed a national letter of intent to become a Trojan. A 5-6 guard, Samuels was the 2021-22 3A Washington State Player of the Year as a junior. Also named State Tournament MVP that season, she was an All-State First Team honoree. A regular on all-state honor rolls and the 2022 Metro League Player of the Year, she averaged 16.5 points, 6.3 assist, 6.1 steals and 3.4 rebounds per game at the guard slots. At the club level, she has competed for Greyhounds and is considered the top girls basketball recruit out of the state of Washington in this 2023 class. •
[8] USC (21-9) vs. [9] South Dakota State (28-5)
Series Record: Tied 1-1
First Meeting: USC 66, SDSU 59 [12/11/04 • Los Angeles]
Last Meeting: SDSU 67, USC 63 [11/17/06 • Brookings, S.D.]
TV: ESPNews (Talent: Angel Gray & Helen Williams)
THIS WEEK
USC has captured a No. 8 seed into its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2014. The Women of Troy (21-9) will make their 17th overall trip to the tourney and first under second-year USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb. After posting its best Pac-12 record since that 2013-14 season, USC has scored a trip to Blacksburg, Va., to open its 2023 NCAA campaign against No. 9 seed South Dakota State (28-5) at approximately 8 p.m. ET on Friday (March 17) with a shot at facing either host No. 1 Virginia Tech (27-4) or No. 16 Chattanooga (20-12) in the NCAA Second Round on Sunday (March 19).
NCAA NOTES
• USC is 29-14 in the NCAA Tournament, with two NCAA title victories (1983 and 1984).
• This is the Trojans' 17th trip to the NCAA Tournament.
• USC is one of seven Pac-12 teams in this year's NCAA bracket.
• USC's last appearance was in 2014 after the Trojans captured an automatic berth by way of winning the Trojans' first-ever Pac-12 Tournament championship. USC was the first team ever to play four games in the conference tournament and won all four.
• USC was a No. 9 seed in the 2014 NCAA tourney, falling in the first round to St. John's 71-68 in Knoxville, Tenn.
• The last time USC earned an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament was 2006.
• Head coach Lindsay Gottlieb has now led three different programs to the NCAA Tournament — UC Santa Barbara (2009), California (seven appearances in eight seasons) and USC.
• Three current Trojans in their first season at USC have previous NCAA experience:
- Kadi Sissoko: 2019 as a freshman at Syracuse
- Koi Love: 2022 as a junior at Arizona
- Destiny Littleton: 2021 and 2022 at South Carolina (2022 NCAA Champion), 2018 and 2019 at Texas
• With the USC men's at-large selection to the 2023 March Madness, this marks the first time since 1997 that both the USC men's and women's programs have made the NCAA Tournament in the season.
• USC has played seven other teams in the 68-team field of the 2023 NCAA Tournament, posting a 4-6 record against those opponents this season (1-1 against No. 1 seed Stanford; 0-1 against No. 2 seed Utah; 0-1 against No. 4 seed Texas; 0-2 against No. 4 seed UCLA; 2-0 against No. 5 seed Washington State; 1-0 against No. 6 seed Colorado; and 0-1 against No. 7 seed Arizona).
FOLLOW ALONG
ESPN will be televising the first- and second-round games in Blacksburg, with Angel Gray and Helen Williams on the calls. USC's first game vs. South Dakota State will air on ESPNews.
IN THE POLLS
USC spent one week ranked No. 25 in the national AP rankings — its first AP ranking since 2016. Currently, USC is receiving votes the AP poll this week. USC enters this week rated 31 in the NET rankings.
USC IN THE NATION
USC enters the week ranked as the No. 18 team in the nation in scoring defense, holding teams to an average of 54.8 points per game. The Trojans also are top-25 in three other categories: blocks per game (4th - 5.7 bpg), field goal percentage defense (11th‚ 35.4%) and 3-point percentage defense (25th — 27.3%).
TROJANS IN THE NATION
Individually, USC enters the week with players making their marks on the national stat sheets. With 3.37 blocks per game, Rayah Marshall ranks No. 2 in the nation, and she's No. 7 in total blocks (91). Marshall also is making her mark on the boards, ranked No. 8 with her 11.4 rebounds per game and No. 6 with 8.3 defensive rebounds per game. Another Trojan in the nation's top-25 to date is Destiny Littleton, who ranks 23rd with a free-throw percentage of 87.8.
PAC-12 PICK-EM
USC landed three players on the All-Pac-12 Team for the first time in program history, as Destiny Littleton, Rayah Marshall and Kadi Sissoko have each made a name for themselves this season for their work in the Trojans' successful 2022-23 campaign. Additionally, in a nod to USC's ferocious defensive efforts, Marshall has picked up a place on the All-Defensive Team while Okako Adika and Kayla Williams have earned All-Defensive Honorable Mention. That secured Pac-12 accolades for USC's entire starting lineup, which helped the Trojans to 21 wins as they entered postseason play. On March 1, the Pac-12 released its Pac-12 Media Awards, as selected by voting Pac-12 media members. Marshall and Sissoko earned All-Pac-12-Team honors there, with Marshall also picked up All-Defensive Team accolades.
BLOCK WATCH
With blocks in 50 straight games as USC enters the 2023 NCAA Tournament, Rayah Marshall's powerful blocking ability has her locked in as one of USC's finest blockers in program history. With 192 career blocks, the sophomore already ranks among USC's top Trojans: No. 1 Lisa Leslie (321), No. 2 Cheryl Miller (320), No. 3 Paula McGee (190), Briana Gilbreath (168) and Michelle Campbell (162). And with 91 blocks this season alone, Marshall ranks third all-time behind Leslie's 95 and 94 blocks tallied in her junior and senior seasons, respectively.
TRANSFER TIME
USC grad transfers Kadi Sissoko and Destiny Littleton have emerged as top impact players in their first season as Trojans. Sissoko and Littleton are averaging 15.6 and 13.9 points per game, respectively. Littleton has provided double digits in a team-high 24 games this season, and Sissoko has done so in 19 games in spite of being sidelined for five games with injuries. Sissoko also has recorded five games with 20+ points and has laid claim to four double-doubles as a Trojan to date. And during her 30-point performance at Cal, Sissoko reached the 1,000-point mark for her career.
SMART START
The USC squad set new academic records with its performance in the classroom in Fall 2022. The group's Fall 2022 semester GPA of 3.344 and cumulative team GPA of 3.329 were the best marks on record for the Women of Troy.
DESTINY DOES IT
Guard Destiny Littleton grabbed her first honor as the Pac-12 Player of the Week after her instrumental role in leading the Trojans to a sweep of the Bay Area schools, topped off with a statement-making upset of No. 2 Stanford at Galen Center. Littleton tallied a game-high 18 points in both wins and served up five assists against Cal and six against Stanford. In the Trojans' 55-46 win over the Cardinal, Littleton played the full 40 minutes to help anchor USC's first win over an opponent ranked No. 2 or better since 2008. USC's upset also snapped the Cardinal's 39-game win streak against Pac-12 opponents. Defensively, USC held Stanford to its lowest point total since 2016. It was USC's largest margin of victory over Stanford since a 12-point win in 1993. Littleton recorded double digits in three straight games to help earn her status as the second Trojan to be named Pac-12 Player of the Week this season and 52nd all-time, following teammate Rayah Marshall's win on Jan. 2.
RAYAH REIGNS AS PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
USC sophomore Rayah Marshall was the driving force for the Trojans in a key Pac-12 road split, ringing in the new year with her first career selection as the Pac-12 Player of the Week on Jan. 2. The versatile forward made her mark in the USC history books with the most points scored by a Trojan since 2019 when she pinned up a career-high 33 points in the Trojans' win at Oregon State on Dec. 30. She'd haul in 16 rebounds in that one and keep her blocks streak alive and well with four in USC's victory. It was the just the seventh 30-point and 15-rebound double-double by any player in the NCAA this season and the first such outing by a Trojan since at least 1999-2000. Marshall also accounted for 16 of USC's 18 points in the fourth quarter against the Beavers and had over half USC's total team rebounds in the win. At No. 17 Oregon on New Year's Day, Marshall continued her blocks streak in stretching her run to 34 straight games with at least one block while also tallying her fifth consecutive double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. It was the first career Pac-12 Player of the Week honor for Marshall and the 51st overall for the Women of Troy all-time.
RAYAH'S PAC-12 POWER
USC sophomore Rayah Marshall added to her Pac-12 accolades with her earning of All-Pac-12 Preseason Honorable Mention from the media. The top-ranked freshman in the nation in blocks last season, Marshall is back for more in her second year as a Trojan. Marshall earned All-Pac-12 Defensive Honorable Mention last year, and was selected to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team. She was USC's third leading scorer with 11. 3 points per game while dominating the boards with a team-high 7.7 rebounds per game to go along with her 2.54 blocks per game — ranking her No. 12 overall in the nation in that category in 2021-22. So far in her 2022-23 sophomore campaign, Marshall has made an indelible mark with her 33-point outing in USC's win at Oregon State. Averaging 12.6 points and 11.4 rebounds per game to date, she's collected 13 double-doubles this season and is one of the nation's top blockers with her 3.37 blocks per game. She also is the only Pac-12 player to average a double-double this season.
2022-23 TROJANS
The Women of Troy are a dynamic group with solid returning talent along with a powerful group of newcomers. The 2022-23 roster features All-Pac-12 honoree Rayah Marshall and its top 3-point scorer Alyson Miura returning from last season, in addition to seven transfers ready to hit the court in Cardinal and Gold. USC's group of grad transfers features an NCAA champion in Destiny Littleton along with three standout internationals in Kadi Sissoko, Rokia Doumbia and Okako Adika. USC has also welcomed undergraduate transfers Kayla Williams, Koi Love and Taylor Bigby to the Trojan Family.
MID-YEAR MAGIC
USC's backcourt gets another boost with the addition of 5-9 guard Dominique Onu, who has come to Troy as a mid-year transfer from UCLA. After two seasons with the Bruins, the Florida native joined the Trojans in January 2023 and will compete for USC starting in Fall 2023. Ranked as the No. 26 recruit in the nation in 2021, Onu prepped at Blair Academy in New Jersey before signing on with UCLA, where she enrolled early as a true freshman in 2020-21. Onu played in 16 games as a freshman and in 27 with seven starts as a sophomore last season. She averaged 5.4 points per game in her sophomore season and set her career high with 16 points at Oregon. A native of Jacksonville, Fla., Onu helped Blair Academy win the NJISAA State title as a junior in 2020, averaging 15.8 points per game that year.
SIGNED!
JUJU WATKINS | Sierra Canyon HS (Watts, Calif.)
The USC women's basketball program has the stage set for some serious star power with the addition of the nation's top high school player, guard Juju Watkins, who signed a national letter of intent to join the Women of Troy in 2023. Heralded as the best in the USA, Watkins was named the 2022 MaxPreps National Player of the Year as a junior. A native of Watts, Calif., Watkins is sticking to her Los Angeles roots in becoming a Trojan. In addition to her numerous California state accolades, she also brings in significant international experience as a member of the United States U-17 and U-16 national teams. She was named the MVP of the 2022 FIBA U17 World Cup in helping Team USA to a gold medal at that event. And in 2021, she was the MVP of the FIBA Americas U16 Championship, where the U.S. squad also won gold. The 6-1 guard has played club ball for Sports Academy Swish GBL. And in her junior season with Sierra Canyon, Watkins piled up state honors as the Gatorade California Girls Basketball Player of the Year, CIF Mc. Basketball State Player of the Year, Los Angeles Times Player of the Year and Los Angeles Daily News Player of the Year in 2022. Most recently, Watkins won the 2023 Jersey Mike's Naismith High School Girls Player of the Year Trophy, was named the Gatorade California State Player of the Year and was selected to the 2023 USA Women's Nike Hoop Summit Team.
MALIA SAMUELS | Garfield HS (Seattle, Wash.)
USC gets another guard stronger with the addition of Seattle product Malia Samuels, who signed a national letter of intent to become a Trojan. A 5-6 guard, Samuels was the 2021-22 3A Washington State Player of the Year as a junior. Also named State Tournament MVP that season, she was an All-State First Team honoree. A regular on all-state honor rolls and the 2022 Metro League Player of the Year, she averaged 16.5 points, 6.3 assist, 6.1 steals and 3.4 rebounds per game at the guard slots. At the club level, she has competed for Greyhounds and is considered the top girls basketball recruit out of the state of Washington in this 2023 class. •
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