2024–25 USC Trojans women's basketball team

2024–25 USC Trojans women's basketball
2024–25 USC Trojans women's basketball
Big Ten regular season champions
NCAA tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 5
AP	No. 5
Record	31–4 (17–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	Lindsay Gottlieb (4th season);
Assistant coaches	Beth Burns (3rd season); Wendale Farrow (4th season); Willnett Crockett (2nd season); Courtney Jaco (2nd season);
Home arena	Galen Center
	Seasons ← 2023–24 2025–26 →

2024–25 Big Ten women's basketball standings
v t e	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 5 USC	17	–	1	.944	31	–	4	.886
No. 3 UCLA †	16	–	2	.889	34	–	3	.919
No. 19 Ohio State	13	–	5	.722	26	–	7	.788
No. 12 Maryland	13	–	5	.722	25	–	8	.758
No. 25 Michigan	11	–	7	.611	23	–	11	.676
Michigan State	11	–	7	.611	22	–	10	.688
Illinois	11	–	7	.611	22	–	10	.688
Oregon	10	–	8	.556	20	–	12	.625
Indiana	10	–	8	.556	20	–	13	.606
Nebraska	10	–	8	.556	21	–	12	.636
Iowa	10	–	8	.556	23	–	11	.676
Washington	9	–	9	.500	19	–	14	.576
Minnesota	8	–	10	.444	25	–	11	.694
Wisconsin	4	–	14	.222	13	–	17	.433
Rutgers	3	–	15	.167	13	–	20	.394
Purdue	3	–	15	.167	10	–	19	.345
Northwestern	2	–	16	.111	9	–	18	.333
Penn State	1	–	17	.056	10	–	19	.345

† 2025 Big Ten tournament winner As of April 7, 2025 Rankings from AP Poll

The 2024–25 USC Trojans women's basketball team represented the University of Southern California during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Trojans were led by fourth-year head coach Lindsay Gottlieb, and played their home games at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, California.^[1] This marks the program's first season as a member of the Big Ten Conference.

USC entered their first season in the Big Ten expected to finish No. 1 in the preseason conference coaches poll.^[2] JuJu Watkins was named the preseason Big Ten conference player of the year.

The Trojans won the Big Ten regular season championship in their first year as a member, and earned a number 1 seed in the 2025 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament.^[3] The season ended with a loss to the eventual national champion UConn Huskies.^[4]

Previous season

The Women of Troy finished the Pac-12 regular season tied for second with UCLA. USC held the tiebreaker over UCLA, earning then the 2-seed in the 2024 Pac-12 Conference women's basketball tournament, where they won.

The squad earned their second straight bid for the NCAA women's basketball tournament, earning a No. 1 seed in the Portland region. They went on to beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the First Round, Kansas in the Second Round, and Baylor in the Sweet Sixteen, but lost to Connecticut in the Elite Eight.

They started the season ranked No. 21 and finished the season with a No. 5 AP ranking and a No. 6 ranking in the Coaches' poll.

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Reason for Departure
Taylor Bigby	1	G	6'1"	Jr	Las Vegas, NV	Transferred to TCU.
India Otto	2	G	5'9"	GS	Los Angeles, CA	Joined staff as Coordinator of Player Engagement. Graduated.
Kayla Williams	4	G	5'7"	Sr	Los Angeles, CA	Transferred to UC Berkeley. Graduated.
Kaitlyn Davis	24	G/F	6'0"	GS	Norwalk, CT	Drafted in the 3rd Round (35th Overall) in the 2024 WNBA draft by the New York Liberty. Graduated.
McKenzie Forbes	25	G	6'0"	GS	Folsom, CA	Drafted in the 3rd Round (28th Overall) in the 2024 WNBA draft by the Los Angeles Sparks. Graduated.
Roxane Makolo	30	G	5'10"	GS	Quebec, CA	Transferred to Georgia.
Kayla Padilla	45	G	5'9"	GS	Torrance, CA	Graduated

Incoming transfers

Name	Num	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Kiki Iriafen	44	F	6'3"	GS	Los Angeles, CA	Stanford
Talia von Oelhoffen	55	G	5'11"	GS	Tri-Cities, WA	Oregon State

2024 recruiting class

Source:^[5]

Name	Overall Rank	Position	Hometown	High School	Height	ESPN Stars	ESPN Grade
Vivian Iwuchukwu	47	F	Imo State, Nigeria	Montverde Academy	6'3"	4	94
Rian Forester	53	G	Helotes, TX	Brandeis	5'11"	4	94
Laura Williams	89	F	Tampa, FL	St. Paul VI Catholic	6'1"	4	91
Kayleigh Heckel	28	G	Port Chester, NY	Long Island Lutheran	5'9"	5	97
Kennedy Smith	6	G	Chino, CA	Etiwanda	6'1"	5	98
Avery Howell	23	G	Boise, ID	Boise	6'0"	5	97
Brooklyn Shamblin		G	Carpinteria, CA	Oaks Christian	5'9"	3

Roster

2024–25 USC Trojans women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	0	Vivian Iwuchukwu	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Fr	Montverde Academy	Imo State, Nigeria
G	3	Aaliyah Gayles	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	RS So	Spring Valley	Las Vegas, NV
G	4	Rian Forestier	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	Fr	Brandeis	Helotes, TX
F	6	Laura Williams	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Fr	St. Paul VI Catholic	Tampa, FL
G	9	Kayleigh Heckel	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	Fr	Long Island Lutheran	Port Chester, NY
G	10	Malia Samuels	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)	So	Garfield	Seattle, WA
G	11	Kennedy Smith	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Fr	Etiwanda	Chino, CA
G	12	JuJu Watkins	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	So	Sierra Canyon	Los Angeles, CA
F/C	13	Rayah Marshall	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	Sr	Lynwood	Los Angeles, CA
G	21	Dominique Darius	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	RS Jr	Blair Academy	Jacksonville, FL
G	23	Avery Howell	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Fr	Boise	Boise, ID
G	24	Brooklyn Shamblin	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	Fr	Oaks Christian	Carpinteria, CA
C	34	Clarice Akunwafo	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	Sr	Rolling Hills Prep	Anambra State, Nigeria
F	44	Kiki Iriafen	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	GS	Harvard-Westlake Stanford	Los Angeles, CA
G	55	Talia von Oelhoffen	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	GS	Chiawana Oregon State	Tri-Cities, WA

Head coach

Lindsay Gottlieb (Brown)

Assistant coach(es)

Beth Burns (Ohio Wesleyan)
Wendale Farrow (Eastern Michigan)
Courtney Jaco (USC)
Wilnett Crockett (Connecticut)
Chris Koclanes (Old Dominion)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: November 24, 2024

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site city, state
Regular season
November 4, 2024* 9:00 a.m., ESPN	No. 3	vs. No. 20 Ole Miss Aflac Oui-Play Game	W 68–66	1–0	27 – Watkins	13 – Iriafen	4 – Watkins	Adidas Arena Paris, France
November 9, 2024* 2:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 3	Cal Poly	W 90–35	2–0	16 – Watkins	7 – Tied	7 – von Oelhoffen	Galen Center (5,215) Los Angeles, California
November 12, 2024* 7:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 3	Cal State Northridge	W 124–39	3–0	21 – Watkins	9 – Marshall	9 – Watkins	Galen Center (3,064) Los Angeles, California
November 15, 2024* 12:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 3	Santa Clara	W 81–50	4–0	22 – Watkins	7 – Iriafen	6 – von Oelhoffen	Galen Center (3,594) Los Angeles, California
November 23, 2024* 1:00 p.m., NBC	No. 3	No. 6 Notre Dame	L 61–74	4–1	15 – Iriafen	9 – Tied	5 – Watkins	Galen Center (7,894) Los Angeles, California
November 27, 2024* 4:00 p.m., TruTV	No. 6	vs. Seton Hall Acrisure Holiday Invitational	W 84–51	5–1	20 – Watkins	11 – Marshall	6 – Marshall	Acrisure Arena Palm Springs, California
November 29, 2024* 4:00 p.m., TruTV	No. 6	vs. Saint Louis Acrisure Holiday Invitational	W 104–65	6–1	34 – Watkins	12 – Iriafen	4 – Tied	Acrisure Arena (2,725) Palm Springs, California
December 3, 2024* 6:30 p.m., BTN	No. 6	California Baptist	W 94–52	7–1	40 – Watkins	10 – Tied	6 – von Oelhoffen	Galen Center (2,489) Los Angeles, California
December 7, 2024 1:00 p.m., BTN	No. 6	at Oregon	W 66–53	8–1 (1–0)	21 – Watkins	12 – Iriafen	4 – Tied	Matthew Knight Arena (7,246) Eugene, Oregon
December 10, 2024* 6:00 p.m., BTN	No. 5	Fresno State	W 89–40	9–1	24 – Iriafen	13 – Marshall	5 – Watkins	Galen Center (3,081) Los Angeles, California
December 15, 2024* 12:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 5	Elon	W 88–30	10–1	26 – Watkins	14 – Marshall	5 – Watkins	Galen Center (4,818) Los Angeles, California
December 21, 2024* 5:00 p.m., FOX	No. 7	at No. 4 UConn	W 72–70	11–1	25 – Watkins	11 – Iriafen	6 – Iriafen	XL Center (15,684) Hartford, CT
December 29, 2024 7:00 p.m., BTN	No. 4	No. 23 Michigan	W 78–58	12–1 (2–0)	31 – Watkins	9 – Iriafen	7 – Watkins	Galen Center (8,043) Los Angeles, California
January 1, 2025 12:00 p.m., BTN	No. 4	Nebraska	W 75–55	13–1 (3–0)	26 – Watkins	9 – Marshall	4 – Watkins	Galen Center (5,662) Los Angeles, California
January 5, 2025 5:00 p.m., BTN	No. 4	at Rutgers	W 92–42	14–1 (4–0)	23 – Watkins	14 – Watkins	6 – von Oelhoffen	Jersey Mike's Arena (7,356) Piscataway, New Jersey
January 8, 2025 5:30 p.m., FS1	No. 4	at No. 8 Maryland	W 79–74	15–1 (5–0)	21 – Tied	15 – Marshall	4 – Heckel	XFINITY Center (14,735) College Park, Maryland
January 12, 2025 5:00 p.m., BTN	No. 4	Penn State	W 95–73	16–1 (6–0)	35 – Watkins	11 – Watkins	4 – Tied	Galen Center (5,881) Los Angeles, California
January 15, 2025 7:00 p.m., Peacock	No. 4	Northwestern	W	16–1 (7–0)	–	–	–	Galen Center Los Angeles, California
January 19, 2025 9:00 a.m., NBC	No. 4	at Indiana	W 73–66	17–1 (8–0)	22 – Watkins	10 – Marshall	5 – Smith	Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (12,534) Bloomington, Indiana
January 22, 2025 4:00 p.m., Peacock	No. 4	at Purdue	W 79–37	18–1 (9–0)	18 – Howell	13 – Marshall	6 – von Oelhoffen	Mackey Arena (7,543) West Lafayette, Indiana
January 30, 2025 7:00 p.m., Peacock	No. 4	Minnesota	W 82–69	19–1 (10–0)	23 – Iriafen	11 – Tied	6 – von Oelhoffen	Galen Center (5,243) Los Angeles, California
February 2, 2025 10:30 a.m., FOX	No. 4	at Iowa	L 69–76	19–2 (10–1)	27 – Watkins	8 – Iriafen	3 – Watkins	Carver-Hawkeye Arena (14,998) Iowa City, Iowa
February 5, 2025 4:30 p.m., Peacock	No. 7	at Wisconsin	W 86–64	20–2 (11–1)	15 – Iriafen	7 – Marshall	5 – Heckel	Kohl Center (6,285) Madison, Wisconsin
February 8, 2025 6:00 p.m., FOX	No. 7	No. 8 Ohio State	W 84–63	21–2 (12–1)	24 – Iriafen	13 – Tied	5 – Smith	Galen Center (8,892) Los Angeles, California
February 13, 2025 7:00 p.m., Peacock	No. 6	No. 1 UCLA Rivalry	W 71–60	22–2 (13–1)	38 – Watkins	11 – Watkins	5 – Watkins	Galen Center (10,258) Los Angeles, California
February 16, 2025 4:00 p.m., BTN	No. 6	at Washington	W 69–64	23–2 (14–1)	19 – Iriafen	8 – Watkins	6 – Watkins	Alaska Airlines Arena (7,913) Seattle, Washington
February 19, 2025 6:30 p.m., Peacock	No. 4	No. 22 Michigan State	W 83–75	24–2 (15–1)	28 – Watkins	12 – Marshall	3 – Tied	Galen Center (5,823) Los Angeles, California
February 23, 2025 1:00 p.m., FS1	No. 4	No. 25 Illinois Senior Day	W 76–66	25–2 (16–1)	22 – Tied	13 – Marshall	5 – Marshall	Galen Center (9,021) Los Angeles, California
March 1, 2025 6:00 p.m., FOX	No. 4	at No. 2 UCLA Rivalry	W 80–67	26–2 (17–1)	30 – Watkins	9 – Iriafen	5 – Tied	Pauley Pavilion (13,659) Los Angeles, California
Big Ten Women's Tournament
March 7, 2025 9:00 a.m., BTN	(1) No. 2	vs. (9) Indiana Quarterfinals	W 84–79	27–2	31 – Watkins	10 – Tied	5 – von Oelhoffen	Gainbridge Fieldhouse Indianapolis, Indiana
March 8, 2025 12:00 p.m., BTN	(1) No. 2	vs. (5) Michigan Semifinals	W 82–70	28–2	25 – Iriafen	12 – Watkins	5 – von Oelhoffen	Gainbridge Fieldhouse Indianapolis, Indiana
March 9, 2025 1:30 p.m., CBS	(1) No. 2	vs. (2) No. 4 UCLA Championship Game/Rivalry	L 67–72	28–3	29 – Watkins	– Smith	4 – Smith	Gainbridge Fieldhouse (8,358) Indianapolis, Indiana
NCAA Tournament
March 22, 2025* 12:00 p.m., ABC	(1 R4) No. 4	(16 R4) UNC Greensboro First Round	W 71–25	29–3	22 – Watkins	13 – Iriafen	2 – Tied	Galen Center (6,865) Los Angeles, California
March 24, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN	(1 R4) No. 4	(9 R4) Mississippi State Second Round	W 96–59	30–3	36 – Iriafen	9 – Iriafen	6 – Tied	Galen Center (7,808) Los Angeles, California
March 29, 2025* 5:00 p.m., ESPN	(1 R4) No. 4	vs. (5 R4) No. 19 Kansas State Sweet Sixteen	W 67–61	31–3	19 – Smith	9 – Marshall	3 – Marshall	Spokane Arena (10,610) Spokane, Washington
March 31, 2025* 6:00 p.m., ESPN	(1 S4) No. 4	vs. (2 S4) No. 3 UConn Elite 8	L 64–78	31–4	23 – Marshall	15 – Marshall	2 – Tied	Spokane Arena (10,141) Spokane, Washington
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time.

Source: USCTrojans.com^[6]

Spokane regional 4 – Spokane, WA

First round Round of 64 March 21–22			Second round Round of 32 March 23–24			Regional semifinals Sweet 16 March 29			Regional Final Elite 8 March 31

1	USC	72

16	UNC Greensboro	25
			1	USC	96
Los Angeles, California – Sat/Mon
			9	Mississippi State	59
8	California	46

9	Mississippi State	59
						1	USC	67

						5	Kansas State	61
5	Kansas State	85

12	Fairfield	41
			5	Kansas State	80^OT
Lexington, Kentucky – Fri/Sun
			4	Kentucky	79
4	Kentucky	79

13	Liberty	78
									1	USC	64

									2	UConn	78
6	Iowa	92

11	Murray State	57
			6	Iowa	62
Norman, Oklahoma – Sat/Mon
			3	Oklahoma	96
3	Oklahoma	81

14	Florida Gulf Coast	58
						3	Oklahoma	59

						2	UConn	82
7	Oklahoma State	68

10	South Dakota State	74
			10	South Dakota State	57
Storrs, Connecticut – Sat/Mon
			2	UConn	91
2	UConn	103

15	Arkansas State	34

Spokane 4 regional final

ESPN

March 31
6:00 pm PDT

No. 1 USC Trojans 64, No. 2 UConn Huskies 78
Scoring by quarter: 11–14, 14–25, 21–12, 18–27
Pts: Rayah Marshall (23) Rebs: Rayah Marshall (15) Asts: Tied (2)		Pts: Paige Bueckers (31) Rebs: Sarah Strong (17) Asts: Paige Bueckers (6)

Spokane Arena – Spokane, Washington
Attendance: 10,141
Referees: Maj Forsberg, Roy Gulbeyan, Katie Lukanich

Game summaries

This section will be filled in as the season progresses.

Source:

No. 20 Ole Miss (Aflac Oui-Play Game)

ESPN

November 4th, 2024
9:00 a.m. PST

Previous season

Departures

Incoming transfers

2024 recruiting class

Roster

Schedule and results

Spokane regional 4 – Spokane, WA

Spokane 4 regional final

Game summaries

No. 20 Ole Miss (Aflac Oui-Play Game)

vs. Cal Poly

vs. Cal State Northridge

vs. Santa Clara

vs. No. 6 Notre Dame

Seton Hall (Acrisure Holiday Invitational)

Saint Louis (Acrisure Holiday Invitational)

vs. California Baptist

at. Oregon

vs. Fresno State

vs. Elon

at. No. 4 UConn

vs. No. 23 Michigan

vs. Nebraska

at. Rutgers

at. No. 8 Maryland

vs. Penn State

vs. Northwestern

at. Indiana

at. Purdue

vs. Minnesota

at. Iowa

at. Wisconsin

vs. Ohio State

vs. UCLA (Rivalry)

at. Washington

vs. Michigan State

vs. Illinois (Senior Day)

at. UCLA (Rivalry)

Big Ten Tournament

(9) Indiana (Quarterfinals)

(5) Michigan (Semifinals)

(2) No. 4 UCLA (Championship Game/Rivalry)

NCAA Tournament

(16) vs UNC Greensboro (First Round)

(9) vs Mississippi State (Second Round)

(5) Kansas State (Sweet Sixteen)

Rankings

See also

Awards and honors

References

External links