USC Trojans Women's Basketball History & Archive

Overview

USC has established its place among the elite college women’s basketball programs, winning two national championships and playing in four Final Fours, along with eight Elite Eight appearances Under coach Linda Sharp, the Women of Troy reached their first Final Four in 1981. In 1983, Cheryl Miller joined Cynthia Cooper and twins Pam and Paula McGee to lead USC to its first national championship. The next year, the team won the NCAA crown again. USC advanced to the NCAA title game in 1986.

A legend in the game, Miller finished her career in 1986 as the Trojans’ alltime leading scorer and rebounder. She also won her third straight Naismith Award as the nation’s outstanding player. She returned as coach of her alma mater in 1994 and led USC to a Pac-10 title and two NCAA appearances. Miller was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995, and Cooper (twice an Olympian and WNBA MVP) was inducted in 2010. Cooper was USC’s coach for four years (2014-17), leading the Trojans to the NCAA tourney in her first year.

Lisa Leslie, who became an Olympic and pro star, won the Naismith Award in 1994 (she was the MVP of the first WNBA All-Star Game and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015). Tina Thompson was the No. 1 pick in the 1997 WNBA draft and entered the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.

USC reached the NCAA tourney in 2005 and 2006 under coach Mark Trakh. Former Laker great and Sparks coach Michael Cooper took over in 2010. After Cynthia Cooper’s tenure, Trakh returned to Troy for the 2018 season. Cleveland Cavaliers assistant Lindsay Gottlieb, who took Cal to the NCAA Final Four, was hired for the 2022 season and helped lead USC back to the NCAA Tournament in 2023 for their first postseason appearance since 2014.

In 2024, Gottlieb’s Women of Troy won the Pac-12 Tournament title and went on to reach the NCAA Elite Eight for the first time since 1994, while freshman JuJu Watkins became USC’s sixth First Team All-American. Last season, USC won the Big Ten regular-season title and reached the Elite Eight once again, while Watkins received the Naismith Trophy as the national player of the year.

2024-25 Season

2023-24 Season

2022-23 Season

2021-22 Season

2020-21 Season

2019-20 Season

2018-19 Season

2017-18 Season

2016-17 Season

2015-16 Season

2014-15 Season

2013-14 Season

2012-13 Season

2011-12 Season

2010-11 Season

2009-10 Season

2008-09 Season

2007-08 Season

2006-07 Season

2005-06 Season

2004-05 Season

2003-04 Season

2002-03 Season

2001-02 Season

2000-01 Season

1999-2000 Season

1998-99 Season

University Southern California Trojans