No. 3 Women’s Water Polo Outlasts No. 5 Hawai’i

Wednesday, March 18

Manoa, Hawai'i

9:00 p.m.

USC

18-2, 3-0

#5 Hawai'i

11-5, 4-0

Southern California

Hawai'i

Photo by: Nicole Hourigan

No. 3 Women’s Water Polo Outlasts No. 5 Hawai’i

March 19, 2026 | Women's Water Polo

Box Score

HONOLULU, Hawai'i - In a wire to wire battle, the USC women's water polo team rallied back to take down the Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine on Wednesday evening. The Women of Troy racked up nine second half goals to pull ahead and shut the door in the final minutes of play to earn the 14-13 win.

#3 USC 14, #5 Hawai'i 13
Emily Ausmus got the Trojans on the board with a penalty shot to open the contest. The Rainbow Wahine went on to score three straight before Ausmus bookended the quarter with another goal on a penalty shot. Hawai'i got one back as the score stood at 4-2 after the first.

Meghan McAninch scored USC's first goal from the field on the powerplay to begin the second. The Trojans outscored the Rainbow Wahine 3-2 in the frame to cut the home team's lead to one.

A six goal third quarter helped USC tie things up at 11-11 heading into the fourth period of play. In the final quarter, USC tacked on three goals and kept Hawai'i from finding the back of the cage on their final five possessions of the game.

Notables

Emily Ausmus led the Trojans with five goals for her 16th multiple goal outing this season
Meghan McAninch provided an offensive spark with five points coming on three goals and two assists
The win is the third top-five victory of the season

Scoring: Emily Ausmus (5), Meghan McAninch (3), Alma Yaacobi (2), Ava Knepper (2), Morgan Netherton (1), Rachel Gazzaniga (1)

Saves: Anna Reed (6)

Up Next
The Trojans will conclude the break with a trip north to take on the top ranked team in the country and NCAA defending champions the Stanford Cardinal. The NCAA championship rematch is set for Sunday, Mar. 22 at 1:00 p.m..