Saturday, March 23
Los Angeles, Calif.
1:30 PM
USC
27-5,13-5Pac-12
87
vs
55
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
23-9,14-4Southland
1
2
3
4
F
A&M-Corpus Christi
4
16
21
14
55
Southern California
21
15
35
16
87
.png&width=84&height=84&quality=100&type=webp)
Team Stats
TA&MCC
USC
FG%
.333
.523
3FG%
.133
.385
FT%
.611
.692
RB
37
40
TO
19
12
STL
6
14
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
23
FGM
8
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Pts
23
FGM
9
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
C
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's BasketballC/F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballPhoto by: Katie Chin
Top-Seed USC Women’s Basketball Swamps Islanders 87-55 In NCAA First Round
March 23, 2024 | Women's Basketball
Ten Trojans score in the win, led by JuJu Watkins and McKenzie Forbes with 23 points apiece.
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. — The top-seeded USC women's basketball team rode a powerful all-around performance with 10 Trojans scoring on the offensive end and a whopping 14 blocks delivered on the defensive end in an 87-55 win over No. 16 seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in today's NCAA First Round at the Galen Center. A crowd of 8,386 fans saw USC freshman JuJu Watkins break Trojan great Cheryl Miller's single-season scoring record, now with 833 points, while the Trojans' 14 blocks marked the second most in a game in program history. USC now holds a 27-5 overall record as the Trojans step into the NCAA Second Round for the first time since 2006. The Islanders end their season with a 23-9 overall record.
USC dished out 10 blocks in the first quarter and crafted a 21-0 scoring rally to take early control of things. The Trojans would lead it 36-20 at halftime, having shot 46.7 percent from the floor to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's 23.5 percent. The Islanders were ahead on the boards 22-20, while USC's JuJu Watkins had 15 points in place in the first half. McKenzie Forbes provided a whole 16 points all her own in the third quarter alone to help USC lead it 71-41 entering the fourth. By the final buzzer, USC had pinned up 14 blocks — second most ever in a game and most since 1984 — and had shot a steamy 52.3 percent from the floor overall. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi ended up a 33.3 percent, and the Trojans wound up winning the battle of the boards 40-37.
USC was led by a game-high 23 points apiece from freshman JuJu Watkins and grad student McKenzie Forbes, while Rayah Marshall checked in with double-double on 10 points and 11 rebounds and Kayla Padilla added 10 points for the Trojans. The Islanders received 15 points from Violeta Verano and 12 from Alecia Westbrook.
The Islanders struck first, only to see the Trojans rattle off a 21-0 run that also included a whopping 10 blocks from USC on the defensive end. JuJu Watkins lit the fuse on the Trojan rally with a 3-pointer, and McKenzie Forbes added one as well along the way, while USC shut out the Islanders until just before the buzzer. That late score from the Islanders made it 21-4 USC after 10 minutes of action. The Islanders bit back with a 6-0 surge to get the score to 22-10 at 7:30. Watkins broke that up with a jumper for the Trojan cause at 6:15 — adding to her newly inked USC record for most points ever scored in a single season — male or female. A 9-0 USC run would follow an Islander bucket, with Watkins providing seven straight points in that surge to a 33-15 USC lead at 2:37. The Islanders got a couple to go next, but Taylor Bigby had the last word of the half with a 3-pointer for USC to make it a 36-20 margin at the break.
The teams largely traded buckets through the first five minutes of the third, as USC led it 51-32 on six straight points from the hands of Forbes. USC later crafted a 6-0 run with Rayah Marshall, Forbes and Watkins combining forces for a 57-36 USC advantage. In a one-minute span later, USC blasted three 3-pointers — a pair from Kayla Padilla and one from Forbes — boosting the Trojans ahead 66-40 entering the final minute of the third. Forbes would land yet another, then wrapped the frame with a pair of free throws to lift USC ahead 71-41 entering the fourth. USC's Dominique Darius got in on the scoring action for USC while Marshall worked her way into her 13th double-double of the season. USC led it 77-48 with 4:50 to go, and in the final stretch the Trojans had two new scorers in on the action, as Malia Samuels and India Otto both dumped in a bucket and a 3-pointer to fire up the crowd and their team en route to an 87-55 final win.
NEXT:
No. 1 seed USC will take on No. 8 seed Kansas in the NCAA Second Round at 7 p.m. on Monday (March 25) at Galen Center.
NOTABLE:
- With 23 points today, FR JuJu Watkins now holds USC's single-season scoring record — male or female — now with 833 points so far this season.
- Watkins now also ranks No. 3 all-time in single-season scoring by any D1 freshman.
- USC's 14 blocks today is the second most in a game in program history (record is 18 vs. Pepperdine on 12/4/84)
- With five blocks today, JR Clarice Akunwafo set her career high.
- With 10 points and 11 rebounds, JR Rayah Marshall recorded her 13th double-double of the season and 33rd of her career.
- Marshall has now recorded double-digit rebounds in the last six games.
- With three 3-pointers today, GS Kayla Padilla has now hit at least three 3-pointers in 11 games this season
- RS SR India Otto set a season-high point total with five points tonight.
- GS McKenzie Forbes hit her highest field goal percentage in going 9-of-14 (.642) from the field.
- Forbes has hit at least one 3-pointer in 29 games this season.
- USC is now 13-0 when scoring over 80 points in a game, and 14-0 when holding an opponent to under 60 points.
- Now 27-5 overall, USC has recorded its most wins since going 31-5 in 1985-86 under head coach Linda Sharp.
- USC is now 21-1 when out-rebounding its opponents.
- The last time the Trojans advanced to the NCAA Second Round was during the 2005-06 season after beating South Florida 67-65 in the First Round.
- USC's 87-55 win marks its largest margin of victory in an NCAA First Round game since 1982 (vs. Kent State, 99-55).
USC dished out 10 blocks in the first quarter and crafted a 21-0 scoring rally to take early control of things. The Trojans would lead it 36-20 at halftime, having shot 46.7 percent from the floor to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's 23.5 percent. The Islanders were ahead on the boards 22-20, while USC's JuJu Watkins had 15 points in place in the first half. McKenzie Forbes provided a whole 16 points all her own in the third quarter alone to help USC lead it 71-41 entering the fourth. By the final buzzer, USC had pinned up 14 blocks — second most ever in a game and most since 1984 — and had shot a steamy 52.3 percent from the floor overall. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi ended up a 33.3 percent, and the Trojans wound up winning the battle of the boards 40-37.
USC was led by a game-high 23 points apiece from freshman JuJu Watkins and grad student McKenzie Forbes, while Rayah Marshall checked in with double-double on 10 points and 11 rebounds and Kayla Padilla added 10 points for the Trojans. The Islanders received 15 points from Violeta Verano and 12 from Alecia Westbrook.
The Islanders struck first, only to see the Trojans rattle off a 21-0 run that also included a whopping 10 blocks from USC on the defensive end. JuJu Watkins lit the fuse on the Trojan rally with a 3-pointer, and McKenzie Forbes added one as well along the way, while USC shut out the Islanders until just before the buzzer. That late score from the Islanders made it 21-4 USC after 10 minutes of action. The Islanders bit back with a 6-0 surge to get the score to 22-10 at 7:30. Watkins broke that up with a jumper for the Trojan cause at 6:15 — adding to her newly inked USC record for most points ever scored in a single season — male or female. A 9-0 USC run would follow an Islander bucket, with Watkins providing seven straight points in that surge to a 33-15 USC lead at 2:37. The Islanders got a couple to go next, but Taylor Bigby had the last word of the half with a 3-pointer for USC to make it a 36-20 margin at the break.
The teams largely traded buckets through the first five minutes of the third, as USC led it 51-32 on six straight points from the hands of Forbes. USC later crafted a 6-0 run with Rayah Marshall, Forbes and Watkins combining forces for a 57-36 USC advantage. In a one-minute span later, USC blasted three 3-pointers — a pair from Kayla Padilla and one from Forbes — boosting the Trojans ahead 66-40 entering the final minute of the third. Forbes would land yet another, then wrapped the frame with a pair of free throws to lift USC ahead 71-41 entering the fourth. USC's Dominique Darius got in on the scoring action for USC while Marshall worked her way into her 13th double-double of the season. USC led it 77-48 with 4:50 to go, and in the final stretch the Trojans had two new scorers in on the action, as Malia Samuels and India Otto both dumped in a bucket and a 3-pointer to fire up the crowd and their team en route to an 87-55 final win.
NEXT:
No. 1 seed USC will take on No. 8 seed Kansas in the NCAA Second Round at 7 p.m. on Monday (March 25) at Galen Center.
NOTABLE:
- With 23 points today, FR JuJu Watkins now holds USC's single-season scoring record — male or female — now with 833 points so far this season.
- Watkins now also ranks No. 3 all-time in single-season scoring by any D1 freshman.
- USC's 14 blocks today is the second most in a game in program history (record is 18 vs. Pepperdine on 12/4/84)
- With five blocks today, JR Clarice Akunwafo set her career high.
- With 10 points and 11 rebounds, JR Rayah Marshall recorded her 13th double-double of the season and 33rd of her career.
- Marshall has now recorded double-digit rebounds in the last six games.
- With three 3-pointers today, GS Kayla Padilla has now hit at least three 3-pointers in 11 games this season
- RS SR India Otto set a season-high point total with five points tonight.
- GS McKenzie Forbes hit her highest field goal percentage in going 9-of-14 (.642) from the field.
- Forbes has hit at least one 3-pointer in 29 games this season.
- USC is now 13-0 when scoring over 80 points in a game, and 14-0 when holding an opponent to under 60 points.
- Now 27-5 overall, USC has recorded its most wins since going 31-5 in 1985-86 under head coach Linda Sharp.
- USC is now 21-1 when out-rebounding its opponents.
- The last time the Trojans advanced to the NCAA Second Round was during the 2005-06 season after beating South Florida 67-65 in the First Round.
- USC's 87-55 win marks its largest margin of victory in an NCAA First Round game since 1982 (vs. Kent State, 99-55).
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