Preview:
Stanford survived 7 close quarters of basketball against Cal and UCLA to gain two tough wins coming into this game. USC, however, lost by a single point to UCLA and then just destroyed Cal by 63-43 to come into this game on an upswing. USC is 12-4, although it has lost to all the really good teams it has played--twice to UCLA, once to Oregon, and once to Texas. As a result, it is unranked, Massey has USC at 42, and the NET is at 41.
USC is coached by Lindsay Gottlieb in her second year at USC, and the team is in transition, and is mostly unrecognizable from previous iterations.
USC is led in scoring by Kadi Sissoku, a 6'2" grad student forward from France, at 15 ppg. She hits the three quite well (36%) and also shoots inside at a high percentage. She played 3 seasons at Minnesota and her freshman season at Syracuse. (Sissoku is out with a broken finger at the moment.)_
Rayah Marshall, a 6'4" sophomore forward, scores 15ppg. She doesn't hit the three often or well, but she is a home-grown USC talent. She is actually listed as a guard/forward and moves quite well for 6'4". She also has 42 blocks on the year, so she is a defensive presence.
Destiny Littleton, a 5'9" grad student guard, is USC's third double digit scorer, at 12 ppg. We should recognize that name. She played at Texas for 2 years, then South Carolina for 2 years, and we saw her at both stops. Her three point shooting has been a little off this year--29%--but she can heat up from range and is a consistent threat to drive and to pop. She is also the point guard, with an excellent 2:1 assist to turnover ratio. She also hits 90% of her free throws!
Kayla Williams and Okako Adika are the other two starters, but Gottlieb has been playing a rotation of 10 in double digit minutes. Adika, from Denmark, is on her 4th school. She is a 6' grad student guard with 43% three point shooting. Williams is a 5'7" junior guard who is shooting only 29%.
Also starting since the injury to Sissoku is Taylor Bigby. Bigby is a 6'1" redshirt freshman guard who went to Oregon last year, was injured, and then transferred to USC. So she is more evidence of the "team of transfers" philosophy. Bigby has now started in 6 games, is shooting a solid 41% and 39% from three point range.
USC has a lot of talent, despite losing 5 players, including star Alisa Pili, to transfers out. Gottlieb nabbed 7 transfers in, and has been stitching together a team with a lot of one year players. Who knows what they will look like next year. Under those circumstances the problem is not talent but coordination, and USC has been coming together of late.
Stanford survived 7 close quarters of basketball against Cal and UCLA to gain two tough wins coming into this game. USC, however, lost by a single point to UCLA and then just destroyed Cal by 63-43 to come into this game on an upswing. USC is 12-4, although it has lost to all the really good teams it has played--twice to UCLA, once to Oregon, and once to Texas. As a result, it is unranked, Massey has USC at 42, and the NET is at 41.
USC is coached by Lindsay Gottlieb in her second year at USC, and the team is in transition, and is mostly unrecognizable from previous iterations.
USC is led in scoring by Kadi Sissoku, a 6'2" grad student forward from France, at 15 ppg. She hits the three quite well (36%) and also shoots inside at a high percentage. She played 3 seasons at Minnesota and her freshman season at Syracuse. (Sissoku is out with a broken finger at the moment.)_
Rayah Marshall, a 6'4" sophomore forward, scores 15ppg. She doesn't hit the three often or well, but she is a home-grown USC talent. She is actually listed as a guard/forward and moves quite well for 6'4". She also has 42 blocks on the year, so she is a defensive presence.
Destiny Littleton, a 5'9" grad student guard, is USC's third double digit scorer, at 12 ppg. We should recognize that name. She played at Texas for 2 years, then South Carolina for 2 years, and we saw her at both stops. Her three point shooting has been a little off this year--29%--but she can heat up from range and is a consistent threat to drive and to pop. She is also the point guard, with an excellent 2:1 assist to turnover ratio. She also hits 90% of her free throws!
Kayla Williams and Okako Adika are the other two starters, but Gottlieb has been playing a rotation of 10 in double digit minutes. Adika, from Denmark, is on her 4th school. She is a 6' grad student guard with 43% three point shooting. Williams is a 5'7" junior guard who is shooting only 29%.
Also starting since the injury to Sissoku is Taylor Bigby. Bigby is a 6'1" redshirt freshman guard who went to Oregon last year, was injured, and then transferred to USC. So she is more evidence of the "team of transfers" philosophy. Bigby has now started in 6 games, is shooting a solid 41% and 39% from three point range.
USC has a lot of talent, despite losing 5 players, including star Alisa Pili, to transfers out. Gottlieb nabbed 7 transfers in, and has been stitching together a team with a lot of one year players. Who knows what they will look like next year. Under those circumstances the problem is not talent but coordination, and USC has been coming together of late.
![[Image: jump.gif]](https://media.tenor.com/gbqAP7qDcqQAAAAC/jump.gif)
