No. 1 Seed USC Women’s Basketball Locks In For 71-25 Win Over UNC Greensboro In NCAA First Round

Saturday, March 22

Los Angeles, Calif.

12:00 p.m.

USC

29-3,16-1Big Ten

UNC Greensboro

25-7,13-1SoCon

UNC Greensboro

Southern California

Photo by: Katie Chin

No. 1 Seed USC Women’s Basketball Locks In For 71-25 Win Over UNC Greensboro In NCAA First Round

March 22, 2025 | Women's Basketball

Box Score HIGHLIGHTS POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE

Kiki Iriafen records her 12th double-double; Spartans are held to an NCAA Tournament-low seven field goals.

LOS ANGELES — The No. 1 seed USC women's basketball team set program and NCAA Tournament defensive records in posting a 71-25 win over visiting No. 16 seed UNC Greensboro in the NCAA First Round today at Galen Center. The Spartans' offensive output marked the lowest scoring total and fewest field goals made in an NCAA Tournament game and by any USC opponent in program history, while the Trojans improved to 29-3 overall and punched their ticket to Monday's Second Round.

USC's defense held UNCG scoreless from the floor for the duration of the second quarter while the Trojans made a 16-0 run to turn a two-point game into a 28-11 halftime advantage for the hosts. USC was shooting 35.6 percent overall in those first 20 minutes to outpace UNCG's 21.4 percent. The Spartans were 0-for-11 from the field in the second quarter to account for their lost ground. USC led the rebounding battle 26-15 in the first half, and JuJu Watkins was the only player for either team in double digits with her 11 first-half points. By the final buzzer, USC had crossed the 70-point mark for the 26th time this season and finished out at 37.5 percent shooting — far outshining UNCG's final 13 percent offense effort and 25 total points. USC hauled in 60 rebounds — two off its season high — while UNCG finished with 34.

JuJu Watkins delivered a game-high 22 points for the Trojans, with Kiki Iriafen notching her 12th double-double of the season with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Rayah Marshall issued a season-high seven blocks to help anchor USC's stingy defense on the day. UNCG's top scorer was Nya Smith with seven points.

"It doesn't matter; I'll do whatever it takes to help us win."@USCWBB's @Kayleigh_Heckel on her NCAA Tournament debut ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/FKo9Xzo6oI
— USC Trojans (@USC_Athletics) March 22, 2025

USC opened up with an 8-0 rally sparked by an assist from Talia von Oelhoffen for a three-point play by Rayah Marshall. USC's 8-0 advantage was bookended by von Oelhoffen's 3-pointer at 5:50, although UNCG got on the board next with a 3-pointer of its own to break its silence 20 seconds later. It was a sluggish start on both ends, sitting as a 12-8 USC advantage after 10 minutes of play. The Spartans squeezed the margin to two points early in the second, but those two free throws were the only points to fall for UNCG while the Trojans rattled off a 13-0 rally to lead it 25-10 entering the final minute of the half. There, Avery Howell converted on a three-point play for her first points of the day before the Spartans landed a long free throw before the break to make it a 28-11 margin for halftime.

USC again scored the first eight points of the quarter, crafting a 36-11 lead before the Spartans buried their first bucket from the floor in over 14 minutes of play with a 3-pointer at 5:52. Once more, only some sparse free throws fell for the Spartans in the next stretch while USC manufactured a 17-1 surge that featured some big buckets from Kayleigh Heckel and Malia Samuels and a 3-pointer from Watkins along the way to a 53-16 USC lead entering the fourth. Kiki Iriafen worked her way into a double-double with her work in the fourth to help lift USC ahead 61-22 midway through the frame. The Trojans wrapped the action on a 10-1 run that featured five points from Vivian Iwuchukwu and Aaliyah Gayles for their first NCAA Tournament points before Avery Howell topped things off with a 3-pointer to net the 71-25 win.

NEXT:
USC advances to the NCAA Second Round against either California or Mississippi State on Monday (March 24) at Galen Center. Tip time will be released later tonight.

NOTABLE:
- With 13 points and 13 rebounds, GR Kiki Iriafen recorded her 12th double-double of the season.
- With 13 points, Iriafen has scored in double figures in 32 of the 33 games she has played this season.
- With 22 points, SO JuJu Watkins has scored in double figures in all 32 games this season and in all but one career game (9 vs. Stanford in the Pac-12 Championship game on March 20, 2024).
- Watkins now ranks No. 9 all-time in career scoring at USC with 1,706 points, passing Ebony Hoffman.
- SR Rayah Marshall recorded a season-high seven blocks.
- FR Avery Howell tied her career high with eight rebounds.
- Howell, RS SO Aaliyah Gayles, FR Kayleigh Heckel, FR Kennedy Smith and FR Vivian Iwuchuckwu all scored their first NCAA tournament points this afternoon.
- USC's 46-point margin of victory is its largest in a NCAA tournament game in program history.
- The Spartans' 25 points is the fewest points scored by a USC opponent in program history (fewest since Cal State LA scored 30 in 1975-76) and the second fewest scored in an NCAA Tournament game.
- UNCG seven made field goals also is the fewest made in an NCAA Tournament game
- UNC Greensboro's seven field goals made and 13.0% field goal percentage is the lowest by an opponent in program history (Previous: vs. Cal State Northridge, 1/28/1995) and also an NCAA Tournament single-game record low.
- USC is now 22-1 when outrebounding an opponent.
- USC is now 26-0 when scoring 70 or more points.
- USC's 60 rebounds is the second most in a game this season (62 vs. Ohio State, 2/8/25)