Thursday, February 22
Los Angeles, CA
6:00 PM
USC
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Utah
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Photo by: John McGillen
USC Women Close Regular Season At Galen Center This Week
February 20, 2018 | Women's Basketball, Features
Women of Troy host Utah on Thursday before a Senior Day matchup against Colorado on Saturday.
USC (17-10, 7-9) vs. Utah (17-10, 8-8)
Galen Center | Los Angeles, Calif.
Thursday, Feb. 22 | 6 p.m. PT
Series Record: USC leads 11-6
Home: 5-3 | Away: 5-3 | Neutral: 1-0
Last Meeting: W, 58-47 (Jan. 14, 2018 • Salt Lake City)
Current Streak: USC won 1
TV: Pac-12LA/MÂ (PbB: Christian Miles; Analyst: Tammy Blackburn)
USC (17-10, 7-9) vs. Colorado (14-13, 5-11)
Galen Center | Los Angeles, Calif.
Saturday, Feb. 24 | 1 p.m. PT
— SENIOR DAY —
Series Record: USC leads 10-6
Home: 5-2 | Away: 5-3 | Neutral: 0-1
Last Meeting: W, 86-51 (Feb. 12, 2017 • Boulder)
Current Streak: USC won 2
LIVE STREAMÂ (PbP:Â Carey Noakes)
THIS WEEKÂ
USC sets up for its final home stand this week, hosting Utah and Colorado in a final push to climb the Pac-12 ladder in prep for the coming conference tournament. On Thursday (Feb. 22), USC (17-10, 7-9) looks to jump the Utes (17-10, 8-8) in the standings in a 6 p.m. game at Galen Center. That game will be televised on Pac-12 Los Angeles and Pac-12 Mountain, with Tammy Blackburn and Christian Miles on the call. Then, on Saturday (Feb. 24), the Trojans take on Colorado (14-13, 5-11) at 1 p.m. after a Senior Day celebration held to honor USC's graduating seniors: Jordan Adams, Sadie Edwards and Kristen Simon.Â
CLEAR BAGS, PLEASE! At Galen Center, the safety of our guests is of paramount importance. With that in mind, beginning January 1, 2018, Galen Center has implemented enhanced security measures including a clear bag policy. To review the policy and to ensure you come to your next event at Galen Center fully prepared CLICK HERE. Thank you and Fight On!
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CLEAR BAGS, PLEASE! At Galen Center, the safety of our guests is of paramount importance. With that in mind, beginning January 1, 2018, Galen Center has implemented enhanced security measures including a clear bag policy. To review the policy and to ensure you come to your next event at Galen Center fully prepared CLICK HERE. Thank you and Fight On!
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IN THE NATION USC is receiving votes in this week's AP poll and is unranked in the USA Today Coaches poll (as of Feb. 20). Utah and Colorado are both unranked.Â
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SCOUTING UTAH
The Utes are 17-10 overall and 8-8 in Pac-12 play after beating WSU 54-50 and Washington 81-46 last week. Megan Huff leads Utah 14.5 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. USC is 11-6 all-time against Utah after picking up a 58-47 win over the Utes last month in Salt Lake City. Last year, Utah got a 58-53 win over the Trojans at Galen Center.
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SCOUTING CU
The Buffaloes enter the week 14-13 overall and 5-11 in Pac-12 play after beating Washington 76-56 and WSU 72-69 last week. Kennedy Leonard leads Colorado in scoring with 14.9 points per game, while Annika Jank leads on the boards with 7.0 rebounds per game. USC is 10-6 all-time against Colorado after an 86-51 win over the Buffs last month in Boulder. Last season, the Trojans beat Colorado 79-54 at Galen Center in the lone meeting between the two schools.Â
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LAST WEEK
USC went toe-to-toe with two ranked teams on the road last week, falling just short of upsets on both occasions. The Trojans took No. 9 Oregon to double overtime before the Ducks were able to get one last bounce to go their way to finish up with an 80-74 win over the Trojans in Eugene. USC played relentless defense in forcing a season-high 24 turnovers out of the Ducks while making a season-high 19 steals of its own. After 21 lead changes and 12 ties, however, Oregon were able to hold off USC in the final stretch of the second overtime to claim the home win. After a hot start by Oregon, USC's defense chilled out the Ducks in the second quarter to work its way even with the No. 9 team in the nation. USC had trailed by 10 during the first quarter but was successfully interrupting the Ducks' flow. Four first-half steals from senior captain Jordan Adams accounting for half of the Trojans' takeaways in those first 20 minutes. By the halftime buzzer, USC was shooting 36 percent from the floor and Oregon was at 37 percent. By the end of regulation, USC was up to 39 percent and Oregon was at 41.7 from the floor, having hit five 3-pointers to USC's two, but the Trojans had produced 29 points off turnovers to rattle the Ducks and pull even at 62-62 after 40 minutes of play. When the second overtime was done, though, Oregon had upped its 3-point tally to eight and had shot 44.8 overall from the floor to outpace USC's 35.9 percent effort, which included three 3-pointers. Oregon also won out on the boards 46-42. USC was led by Kristen Simon's 27th career double-double with a career-high 26 points to go with a season-high 15 rebounds. Joining Simon in double digits for the Trojan cause was Aliyah Mazyck with 18 points to go with a career-high eight steals. Sadie Edwards added 16 points for USC, and Minyon Moore had 12 points and nine assists to further fuel the USC offense. Oregon was up 62-60 with 26 ticks to go in regulation, only to see Simon strike in the paint with 12 seconds left to equalize it at 62-62. Oregon's look for the winner was off the mark, and the two teams were heading into OT. In a back-and-forth battle that saw Sadie Edwards and Lexi Bando trade 3-pointers, it was Edwards who landed the last bucket of the frame, snarling it at 70-70 with 25 seconds left. Again, Oregon missed its shot at the winner, bringing up overtime number two. There, Mazyck tugged her team into the lead on two occasions, with her 18th points of the night taking USC ahead 74-73 with 2:50 to go. Oregon would strike from the paint for the go-ahead a minute later, then landed a wild 3-pointer that hit the rim, skied high and bounced off the top of the backboard before dripping through the net for a back-breaking bucket that gave Oregon a 78-74 lead in the final minute. USC had a few looks to challenge, but Oregon got a couple more free throws to go to pad out an 80-74 advantage that would hold down the stretch to secure the No. 9 Ducks' 24th win of the season. Two days later in Corvallis, USC heaped pressure to the tune of 17 steals on No. 15 Oregon State on the Beavers' home court before late breaks got the hosts a 69-63 win over the Trojans. USC shot just under 30 percent in the first half to trail OSU's 44 percent, but the Trojans scored 13 points off their 12 first-half steals and made a final 8-0 run to close the half, stealing back the lead for a 28-27 halftime advantage over the Beavers. OSU heated up in the third to maneuver into the lead and stay there, fending off the Trojans' late effort to close the gap and finishing out the game hitting at 47.1 percent from the floor. USC wound up at 34.3 percent, going just 3-of-19 from 3-point range to OSU's 7-of-15 outing. USC tallied 17 steals against the Beavers, led by a career-high five from Ja'Tavia Tapley. OSU won out on the board 42-34 and enjoyed a foul count in its favor, 10-17. Simon would foul out, but not before registering her 28th career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Edwards also finished up with 16 for the Trojans, while Mazyck added 15. Moore served up five steals, and all seven Trojans who hit the floor scored in this one.Â
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ROAD WARRIORS
Already with three more wins this season than posted in 2016-17, USC has gone 12-5 in road and neutral games this season, picking up two Pac-12 road sweeps during the month of January. The Trojans first swept the mountain schools, beating Colorado 86-51 and Utah 58-47 that weekend. That was USC's first conference road sweep since the 2014-15 season. Two weeks later, USC notched its second victorious Pac-12 road trip with wins at WSU (73-72) and Washington (72-61). That was the Trojans' first road sweep of the Washington schools since 2011-12. USC last had two Pac-12 road sweeps in 2012-13 (Oregon/OSU and Arizona/ASU).
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UPSET-MINDED
The Trojans have risen to the occasion when tested by the nation's top teams this season. And in 10 tries against ranked opponents, USC has claimed two upset wins so far this season. The Trojans beat then-No. 16 Oregon State 65-61 and then-No. 25 Arizona State 77-62. All but USC's two losses to top-10 UCLA have been by single digits, with an average margin of -4.7 points in those six tightly contested near-upsets. That doesn't include matchups against now-No. 16 Stanford, which was unranked when USC played the Cardinal, but to which the Trojans stayed close in both meetings. USC fell by seven points to Stanford in Palo Alto and lost by just four at Galen Center. As of Feb. 19, USC has registered three wins in 13 games over teams who hold an RPI of 45 and better (Oregon State, Arizona State and Purdue).
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INJURY REPORTÂ
Freshman Shalexxus Aaron is currently sidelined as she rehabs back from offseason knee surgery. Asiah Jones has also not played due to injury. Both players have not yet been medically cleared for competition.
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MOORE MATCHES MILLER
In USC's 80-70 win at LMU on Dec. 1, Trojan sophomore Minyon Moore had a game-high 34 points on an incredible 21-of-23 shooting night from the free-throw line to go along with seven rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal. Moore's 34 points were the most scored by any USC player since Ariya Crook did so in 2014. In addition, her 21 free throws made matched the single-game program record set by Trojan great Cheryl Miller in 1985. Moore's 23 free throws attempted was also the second most in a single game all-time at USC.Â
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HITTING HIGH MARKS IN HAWAI'I
During USC's victorious run through the Rainbow Wahine Showdown the week of Thanksgiving, two milestones were hit by Trojans. With her fourth of a final 16 points in the Nov. 25 win over Marist, senior Kristen Simon joined the 1,000-point club at USC, becoming the 26th Trojan to break that barrier. The very next day, USC gathered a 71-60 win over host Hawai'i, notching USC head coach Mark Trakh's 400th career victory as a head coach. With USC's 17-10 record so far this season, career record now stands at 410-277 (.597) in his 23rd season of coaching. Now with 1,388 career points, Simon ranks No. 17 all-time in scoring at USC, having taken over Tammy Story's spot with her 21-point outing vs. Cal on Jan. 21. Simon enters this week needing just eight points to climb into the No. 16 all-time spot.
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STAY GOLD
These two simple words are being used to define a new culture shift and a hopeful rebirth of the storied USC women's basketball program under the direction of newly-minted Trojan head coach Mark Trakh. "We want the golden standard of cultures here at USC and to get our kids to be on the same page — to work hard, work together, play together hard offensively and defensively, be consistent with that effort, and represent the university well on and off the floor." #StayGold
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TROJAN GREATNESS
USC senior Kristen Simon received national acclaim as one of the nation's top-20 centers named to the watch list for the 2018 Lisa Leslie Award. The Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame and WBCA released their selections on Nov. 10. The award — named for Trojan great Lisa Leslie, who was a three-time All-American during her time at USC — will honor the nation's top center, to be announced at the NCAA Women's Final Four in Columbus, Ohio. This 20-player watch list will narrow to 10 in mid-February before five finalists are revealed in March. Simon was named to the 2017 All-Pac-12 Team as a junior, having led the Trojans in scoring (14.6 ppg) and rebounding (8.7 rpg). This season, she's averaging 17.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. Entering this week, she ranked fourth in the Pac-12 in scoring and third on the boards this season. The versatile Simon has collected 28 double-doubles thus far in her USC career, boasting a 21-rebound performance as a sophomore to net the fourth most single-game records ever by a Trojan. That effort was just two boards away from the career-best posted by Leslie while she was a Trojan. Simon currently ranks No. 17 all-time in career scoring (eight points from No. 16) and No. 9 all-time in rebounds at USC.
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LOOK WHO'S BACK
Mark Trakh is no stranger to the demands of being a head coach in one of the premier conferences for women's basketball. During his first tenure at USC (2004-09), he compiled a 90-64 overall record, making back-to-back NCAA appearances before a series of promising seasons that were eventually derailed by injuries to key players. Trakh also was able to compile an 8-3 record against crosstown rival UCLA while winning at least 17 games in each season as head coach. In his 22 years as a head coach — spanning Pepperdine, USC, New Mexico State and now a second stretch at USC — he has led his teams to eight NCAA appearances. For this 2017-18 season, Trakh has brought in associate head coach Jason Glover and assistant coaches Aarika Hughes, who played for Trakh at USC, and Blanche Alverson as his coaching staff.
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SUPER SENIOR
Jordan Adams was granted a sixth-year of eligibility by the NCAA after a season-ending knee injury last year. Now, the captain is back to bring a veteran presence at the point guard position. Prior to her injury, the former McDonald's All-American was having her best season in a Trojan uniform, averaging 8.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game and shooting over 55 percent from the floor in five games. This season, she's back as a full-time starter, averaging 4.9 ppg and 5.3 rpg along with 2.5 apg.
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MORE SENIOR STRENGTH
Sadie Edwards, who earned Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention after playing in all 30 games and starting the final 22 games last season, returns in the backcourt. The Connecticut product finished second on the team in 3-pointers made last season (24) and averaged 9.2 ppg, often being called upon to hit big shots. After a career-high 30-point game to kick off her senior campaign, Edwards is averaging 13.8 points per game and has nailed 41 threes this season to date.Â
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BACK FOR MOORE
USC guard Minyon Moore was undoubtedly USC's spark plug off the bench last season as a freshman, playing in all 30 games and leading the team in assists (4.0 apg) and steals (1.9 spg) in addition to finishing second in scoring (11.7 ppg). The Pac-12 All-Freshman Team selection shot 38 percent from 3-point range last season and also made a living at the free-throw line, shooting nearly twice as many free throws as the next player on the team. This season, she's a full-time starter is fourth on the team in scoring with 13.3 points per game to go with a team-high 5.8 assists per game. She also entered the week No. 2 in the Pac-12 in steals with 3.0 per game. Moore recorded her first career double-double on Feb. 5 vs. UCLA with 11 points and 11 assists, then made it back-to-back big efforts with 11 points and 10 assists the very next game vs. ASU.
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SPEEDY MAZYCK
USC returns the services of junior Aliyah Mazyck, a tireless defender with burning quickness who averaged 6.6 ppg and 1.5 steals per game in 19 games last season. With her speed and threat from beyond the arc, a fully healthy Mazyck is causing huge problems for opponents this season. To date, she's USC's second leading scorer with 16.3 points per game and entered the week ranked No. 3 in the Pac-12 in steals with 2.6 per game. She's also landed a team-high 78 threes this season — second most by a Trojan in a single season and seven away from the season record. That gives her a grand total of 118 in her career to rank No. 8 all-time in 3-pointers made at USC.
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HIGH POWER DOWN LOW
USC has a quartet of young post players in sophomores Asiah Jones, Ja'Tavia Tapley, Dani Milisic and junior Marguerite Effa. Jones, an athletic 6-3 post played in 29 games as a true freshman and turned heads when she delivered eight blocks in a game against Mississippi State last season — the most by a USC player since Trojan great Lisa Leslie had eight in 1993 and the third most blocks ever recorded by a Trojan in a single game. She led USC in blocks last season with 35. Tapley, a versatile 6-3 forward, showed flashes of her potential last season after appearing in all 30 games and starting the last 15 of the year as a freshman. Also back is redshirt sophomore Milisic, who brings both strength and length in the post. The 6-4 Australian looms as USC's tallest player on the roster this season. Rounding out the post players is 6-3 junior Effa, a native of Cameroon who prepped in Los Angeles and who boasts tremendous athletic ability.Â
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THE NEW CREWÂ
The Trojans have two newcomers at the guard position, true freshmen Shalexxus Aaron and transfer Mariya Moore. Aaron, a 6-1 guard from Apple Valley, Calif., is the sister of current USC men's basketball player Shaqquan and was a 2017 CIF Southern Section First Team and CIF All-State Second Team pick. She is working her way back from offseason knee surgery and has yet to be cleared for competition at USC. Also eagerly awaiting her USC debut is All-American guard Mariya Moore. Mariya, the older sister of current sophomore Minyon, transferred to USC following three years at Louisville where she was a three-time selection to the Naismith Trophy Watch List and an All-ACC Second Team performer as a junior after averaging 12.0 ppg, 5.1 rpg, and 4.9 apg in helping Louisville to the Sweet Sixteen. The 6-0 Moore finished in the top-10 at Louisville in career assists, 3-pointers made and free throws made, and was No. 13 all-time in career points (1,365). Moore is out for the 2017-18 season due to NCAA transfer rules and will have one year of eligibility at Troy.
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LAST SEASONÂ
USC finished up the 2016-17 season with a 14-16 overall record in head coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke's fourth season at Troy. In Pac-12 play, USC finished tied for ninth place at 5-12 and fell in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament.  Junior Kristen Simon picked up a place on the All-Pac-12 Team, while senior Courtney Jaco earned All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention and Pac-12 All-Defensive Honorable Mention. Minyon Moore, who was a two-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week and USBWA National Freshman of the Week was selected to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team. Simon was USC's top scorer and rebounder with 14.6 ppg and 8.7 rpg. Moore led the team in assists (4.0 apg) and steals (1.9 spg). Jaco moved up to rank No. 2 all-time at USC in career 3-pointers as she added a team-high 68 threes to her career count.
Women's Basketball Head Coach Lindsay Gottlieb Media Availability 9/18/25
Thursday, September 18
USC WBB's Lindsay Gottlieb, Rayah Marshall and Talia von Oelhoffen | Trojan Press Conference
Monday, March 31
USC WBB heads to the Elite 8, defeats Kansas State in Sweet 16 | Rapid Reaction
Saturday, March 29
Kennedy Smith on USC WBB heading to the Elite Eight, Trojan freshmen getting the job done
Saturday, March 29
