Preview:
USC is 9-9, 2-6 in conference, ranked 63 by Massey that puts them in the range of Arizona State. Their best two games may have been losses--they played Arizona tight earlier in the year and lost to Oregon State in overtime. UCLA defeated them twice--the first time by a similar margin to our win of UCLA, the second by 10 points. USC plays Cal tonight at 7 and that will be an interesting game in which I would expect either team has a chance. It also will have the drama of Lindsay Gottlieb coaching against her former assistant and old team. There are a lot of changes at USC this year--it will be a very different team than the one we faced a year ago, with Endiya Rogers transferring out to Oregon and Gottlieb taking over the coaching job. A number of grad transfers and a freshman are getting a lot of minutes as Gottlieb reshapes the team.
Nothing much jumps off the team stat sheet--USC rebounds a little better than its opponents but turns the ball over more than its opponents. USC has 11 players averaging 10 or more minutes, so depth is not an issue for them. Surveying the individual stats, it is hard to know who to highlight. In terms of scoring, there are 10 players averaging 4 or more points and no superstars averaging more than 13, so I am not sure who the scouting report would concentrate on shutting down.
6'2" sophomore forward Jordyn Jenkins, who has started all 18 games leads USC with 13 ppg and 55% shooting. She has taken only a handful of treys this year but made 45% of them. She also rebounds and assists well. On paper she looks like their best all around player.
Last weekend, USC star forward Alissa Pili was out. I don't know if Pili was injured or on protocol or what. Pili is a large 6'0" forward whose scoring this year is down to 9ppg, but in prior years was a Naismith watch list candidate who consistently scored 15-20. I presume injuries, the coaching change, the loss of Rogers to Oregon, or COVID has done something to mess her up, but she is capable of great games if she is playing.
5'11" grad transfer forward Jordan Sanders has started for the last 13 games. Sanders is a 5'11" grad student forward who averages 12 points from all over the place, including 39% of her treys.
USC's third leading scorer is off the bench and has not started this season. That is freshman Rayah Marshall, a 6'4" forward. Marshall is averaging 10 points, mainly from inside.
Tara Read, a 6'0" grad student guard from New Zealand, has started 16 games and leads USC in assists--but did not play last weekend, like Pili. No idea what is up there.
USC is 9-9, 2-6 in conference, ranked 63 by Massey that puts them in the range of Arizona State. Their best two games may have been losses--they played Arizona tight earlier in the year and lost to Oregon State in overtime. UCLA defeated them twice--the first time by a similar margin to our win of UCLA, the second by 10 points. USC plays Cal tonight at 7 and that will be an interesting game in which I would expect either team has a chance. It also will have the drama of Lindsay Gottlieb coaching against her former assistant and old team. There are a lot of changes at USC this year--it will be a very different team than the one we faced a year ago, with Endiya Rogers transferring out to Oregon and Gottlieb taking over the coaching job. A number of grad transfers and a freshman are getting a lot of minutes as Gottlieb reshapes the team.
Nothing much jumps off the team stat sheet--USC rebounds a little better than its opponents but turns the ball over more than its opponents. USC has 11 players averaging 10 or more minutes, so depth is not an issue for them. Surveying the individual stats, it is hard to know who to highlight. In terms of scoring, there are 10 players averaging 4 or more points and no superstars averaging more than 13, so I am not sure who the scouting report would concentrate on shutting down.
6'2" sophomore forward Jordyn Jenkins, who has started all 18 games leads USC with 13 ppg and 55% shooting. She has taken only a handful of treys this year but made 45% of them. She also rebounds and assists well. On paper she looks like their best all around player.
Last weekend, USC star forward Alissa Pili was out. I don't know if Pili was injured or on protocol or what. Pili is a large 6'0" forward whose scoring this year is down to 9ppg, but in prior years was a Naismith watch list candidate who consistently scored 15-20. I presume injuries, the coaching change, the loss of Rogers to Oregon, or COVID has done something to mess her up, but she is capable of great games if she is playing.
5'11" grad transfer forward Jordan Sanders has started for the last 13 games. Sanders is a 5'11" grad student forward who averages 12 points from all over the place, including 39% of her treys.
USC's third leading scorer is off the bench and has not started this season. That is freshman Rayah Marshall, a 6'4" forward. Marshall is averaging 10 points, mainly from inside.
Tara Read, a 6'0" grad student guard from New Zealand, has started 16 games and leads USC in assists--but did not play last weekend, like Pili. No idea what is up there.