No. 17 USC Lacrosse Primed for Pac-12 Tournament Run

LOS ANGELES - The 17th-ranked Trojans (14-3, 9-1 Pac-12) secured the No. 1 seed after hoisting the Pac-12 regular-season trophy and will hope to do the same as they enter the conference tournament. USC holds a first-round bye but will meet the winner of No. 4 Arizona State (5-12, 3-7 Pac-12) and No. 5 California (5-12, 2-8 Pac-12) in the semifinals at 4:30 p.m. in Berkeley, Calif. at the California Memorial Stadium.

Game #18 • Thursday, May 4 • 4:30 p.m. PT
No. 17 USC (14-3, 9-1 Pac-12) vs (No. 4) Arizona State/(No. 5) California
California Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, Calif.
TOURNEY HISTORY: USC is 3-3 • STREAK: L1
LAST GAME: L, 12-13 (May 5, 2022 • SD Lacrosse Stadium)
LIVE STREAM: Pac-12 Networks
OPPONENT WEB: pac-12.com

CROSSExamination

The Trojans enter the Pac-12 tournament as the No. 1 seed, after claiming the regular season title. This is USC's second-straight regular season title, as it shared the title with Stanford in 2022.
USC is currently ranked No. 17 in the IWLCA final regular season poll.
The Trojans claimed four of the seven major conference awards, as Emma Wightman was named Defensive Player of the Year, Claudia Shevitz was named Midfielder of the Year, Kait Devir was named Co-Goalkeeper of the Year and head coach Lindsey Munday was named Coach of the Year.
Wightman's award is her second straight Defensive Player of the Year award, as she claimed the AAC DPOY award at Florida in 2022.
USC dominated the Pac-12 awards, as nine players were mentioned on the All-Conference list including four on the first team and five on the second team. The first team includes: Emma Wightman, Claudia Shevitz, Olivia Dooley and Isabelle Vitale. The second team includes: Maggie Brown, Shelby Tilton, Ella Heaney and Kait Devir.
The Trojans are 3-3 all-time in the Pac-12 tournament, as they suffered a loss in the semifinals last year against Arizona State.
The Trojans are 40-11 all-time in Pac-12 games, with a 17-3 record in the conference over the past two years.
USC is 110-18 all-time versus unranked opponents.
The Trojans' 2023 captains are graduate student midfielder Katie Ramsay, senior midfielder Sloane Murphy, senior defender Danielle Carson, and junior attacker Shelby Tilton.
Olivia Dooley is the reigning Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. The league's Defensive Player of the Year has come from USC two times since the award began being issued. Jackie Gilbert was chosen in 2019.
USC's defense has been a force this season, as it is ranked 8th in the NCAA for caused turnovers per game, 29th for groundballs, defender Olivia Dooley ranks 6th in the NCAA for caused turnovers per game with 2.47 and goalie Kait Devir is 4th in the NCAA for goals against average with 7.77.
Emma Wightman hit a major milestone (Apr. 9, vs. Stanford) with 100 career-caused turnovers (74 at the University of Florida and 26 at USC).
Kait Devir was selected as the final Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week, after clinching the regular season title for the Trojans against Arizona State. Devir allowed six goals and posted eight saves in the 11-6 victory. That award is USC's tenth Pac-12 Player of the Week award, which ties the single season record with Arizona State (2021). The Trojans have claimed eight of the 12 DPOW honors this season, which is another single-season Pac-12 record.

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Players Mentioned

Maggie Brown

Danielle Carson

Kait Devir

Olivia Dooley

Ella Heaney

Sloane Murphy

Katie Ramsay

Claudia Shevitz

Shelby Tilton

Isabelle Vitale

Emma Wightman