The USC women’s basketball team has three more regular-season games and then the Big Ten tournament to augment its already glistening resume for the NCAA tournament selection committee.
As it stands, the Trojans (23-2, 13-1 Big Ten) are in strong position for consideration for a No. 1 seed.
They climbed two spots in the AP poll this week to No. 4, on the strength of their 71-60 win over previous No. 1 and unbeaten UCLA on Thursday and a 69-64 win at Washington on Sunday night. USC sits behind new No. 1 Notre Dame (22-2), which beat the Trojans, 74-61, in Los Angeles back in November; No. 2 Texas (26-2); and No. 3 UCLA (24-1).
Prior to that win over the Huskies, the Trojans landed at No. 5 overall in the NCAA selection committee’s first top-16 reveal, slotting in as a No. 2 seed in the Spokane regional.
USC returns to Galen Center this week to host Michigan State (19-6, 9-5) on Wednesday and Illinois (21-5, 11-4) on Sunday before closing the regular season March 1 at UCLA in a marquee rematch that could decide the Big Ten regular-season championship.
Sophomore star JuJu Watkins is averaging 24.2 points (fourth nationally), 6.9 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game while leading the team with 53 steals and ranking second with 47 blocks. Kiki Iriafen is averaging 17.8 points and 8.3 rebounds, freshman Kennedy Smith is averaging 10.1 points and Rayah Marshall is at 7.3 PPG and 8.4 RPG with a team-high 53 blocks.
