2025–26 USC Trojans women's basketball team

2025–26 USC Trojans women's basketball
2025–26 USC Trojans women's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 16
AP	No. 17
Record	9–3 (1–0 Big Ten)
Head coach	Lindsay Gottlieb (5th season);
Associate head coach	Beth Burns (4th season)
Assistant coaches	Willnett Crockett (3rd season); Courtney Jaco (3rd season); Nikki Blue (1st season);
Home arena	Galen Center

2025–26 Big Ten women's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 7 Maryland	1	–	0	1.000	13	–	0	1.000
No. 20 Nebraska	1	–	0	1.000	12	–	0	1.000
Illinois	1	–	0	1.000	11	–	1	.917
No. 19 Ohio State	1	–	0	1.000	11	–	1	.917
No. 4 UCLA	1	–	0	1.000	11	–	1	.917
No. 6 Michigan	1	–	0	1.000	10	–	1	.909
No. 14 Iowa	1	–	0	1.000	10	–	2	.833
No. 17 USC	1	–	0	1.000	9	–	3	.750
Wisconsin	1	–	0	1.000	9	–	3	.750
No. 24 Michigan State	0	–	1	.000	11	–	1	.917
Oregon	0	–	1	.000	12	–	2	.857
Indiana	0	–	1	.000	11	–	2	.846
Washington	0	–	1	.000	10	–	2	.833
Minnesota	0	–	1	.000	9	–	3	.750
Purdue	0	–	1	.000	8	–	4	.667
Rutgers	0	–	1	.000	8	–	4	.667
Penn State	0	–	1	.000	7	–	5	.583
Northwestern	0	–	1	.000	6	–	6	.500

† 2026 Big Ten tournament winner As of December 22, 2025 Rankings from AP Poll

The 2025–26 USC Trojans women's basketball team represented the University of Southern California during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Trojans are led by fifth-year head coach Lindsay Gottlieb, and played their home games at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, California. This marks the program's second season as a member of the Big Ten Conference.

Previous season

The Trojans finished the 2024–25 season 31–4, 17–1 in Big Ten play win the regular season Big Ten title. As the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they defeated Indiana in the quarterfinals and Michigan in the semifinals before losing to UCLA in the championship game. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 1 seed in the Spokane Region 4 where defeated UNC Greensboro and Mississippi State to advanced to the sweet sixteen where they defeated Kansas State before losing to national champion in a rematch of last year's elite eight to UConn.

Offseason

Departures

USC Departures
Name	Num	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Reason for Departure
Aaliyah Gayles	3	G	5'9"	Sophomore	Las Vegas, NV	Transferred to Utah State
Kayleigh Heckel	9	G	5'9"	Freshman	Port Chester, NY	Transferred to UConn
Rayah Marshall	13	F/C	6'4"	Senior	Los Angeles, CA	Graduated/2025 WNBA draft; selected 25th overall by Connecticut Sun
Dominique Darius	21	G	5'10"	Junior	Jacksonville, FL	Transferred to Syracuse
Avery Howell	23	G	6'0"	Freshman	Boise, ID	Transferred to Washington
Clarice Akunwafo	34	C	6'6"	Senior	Anambra State, Nigeria	Graduated
Kiki Iriafen	44	F	6'3"	Graduate Student	Los Angeles, CA	Graduated/2025 WNBA draft; selected 4th overall by Washington Mystics
Talia von Oelhoffen	55	G	5'11"	Graduate Student	Pasco, WA	Graduated

Incoming transfers

USC Incoming Transfers
Name	Num	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Londynn Jones	3	G	5'4"	Senior	Riverside, CA	UCLA
Yakiya Milton	7	F	6'4"	Junior	Jacksonville, FL	Auburn
Dayana Mendes	13	F	6'2"	Sophomore	Paris, France	Washington State
Kara Dunn	25	G	5'11"	Senior	Dallas, GA	Georgia Tech

2025 recruiting class

College recruiting information
Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight
Jazzy Davidson G	Clackamas, OR	Clackamas High School	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	N/A
Jazzy Davidson G	Recruit ratings: ESPN: (98)
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2025 Player Commits". ESPN. Archived from the original on September 19, 2025.

2026 recruiting class

College recruiting information (2026)
Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Saniyah Hall G	Lorain, OH	SPIRE Institute	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	N/A
Saniyah Hall G	Recruit ratings: ESPN: (98)
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2026 Player Commits". ESPN. Archived from the original on September 19, 2025.

Roster

2025–26 USC Trojans women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	0	Vivian Iwuchukwu	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	So	Montverde Academy	Imo State, Nigeria
G	3	Londynn Jones	5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)	Sr	Centennial UCLA	Riverside, CA
G	4	Rian Forestier	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	So	Brandeis	Helotes, TX
F	6	Laura Williams	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	RS Fr	St. Paul VI Catholic	Tampa, FL
F	7	Yakiya Milton	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	Jr	Mandarin Auburn	Jacksonville, FL
F	8	Gerda Raulusaityte	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Jr	Vilnius Ozas Gymnasium LCC International	Varėna, Lithuania
G	9	Jazzy Davidson	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Fr	Clackamas	Clackamas, OR
G	10	Malia Samuels	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)	Jr	Garfield	Seattle, WA
G	11	Kennedy Smith	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	So	Etiwanda	Chino, CA
G	12	JuJu Watkins	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Jr	Sierra Canyon	Los Angeles, CA
F	13	Dayana Mendes	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	So	INSEP Washington State	Paris, France
G	24	Brooklyn Shamblin	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	So	Oaks Christian	Carpinteria, CA
G	25	Kara Dunn	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	Sr	Mount Paran Christian Georgia Tech	Dallas, GA

Head coach

Lindsay Gottlieb (Brown)

Assistant coach(es)

Beth Burns (Ohio Wesleyan)
Wilnett Crockett (Connecticut)
Courtney Jaco (USC)
Nikki Blue (UCLA)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site city, state
Regular season
November 4, 2025* 7:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 18	New Mexico State	W 87–48	1–0	14 – Davidson	9 – Raulusaityte	4 – Tied	Galen Center (3,971) Los Angeles, CA
November 9, 2025* 12:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 18	vs. No. 9 NC State Ally Tipoff	W 69–68	2–0	21 – Davidson	8 – Smith	4 – Davidson	Spectrum Center (5,208) Charlotte, NC
November 15, 2025* 6:00 p.m., FOX	No. 8	vs. No. 2 South Carolina The Real SC	L 52–69	2–1	12 – Smith	5 – Dunn	4 – Smith	Crypto.com Arena (8,150) Los Angeles, CA
November 18, 2025* 7:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 11	Portland	W 78–51	3–1	19 – Davidson	12 – Milton	5 – Davidson	Galen Center (2,947) Los Angeles, CA
November 21, 2025* 3:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 11	at No. 24 Notre Dame	L 59–61	3–2	21 – Dunn	8 – Davidson	5 – Smith	Joyce Center (8,342) South Bend, IN
November 25, 2025* 7:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 18	Tennessee Tech	W 85–44	4–2	20 – Tied	16 – Davidson	5 – Smith	Galen Center (3,012) Los Angeles, CA
November 28, 2025* 2:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 18	Pepperdine	W 82–52	5–2	19 – Dunn	4 – Tied	7 – Smith	Galen Center (3,866) Los Angeles, CA
December 2, 2025* 7:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 16	Saint Mary's	W 79–33	6–2	17 – Jones	5 – Dunn	6 – Davidson	Galen Center (2,361) Los Angeles, CA
December 7, 2025 5:00 p.m., BTN	No. 16	No. 21 Washington	W 59–50	7–2 (1–0)	22 – Davidson	12 – Davidson	4 – Tied	Galen Center (6,137) Los Angeles, CA
December 13, 2025* 2:30 p.m., FOX	No. 16	No. 1 UConn	L 51–79	7–3	16 – Smith	7 – Smith	5 – Dunn	Galen Center (9,035) Los Angeles, CA
December 18, 2025* 7:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 19	Cal Poly	W 86–39	8–3	28 – Jones	9 – Davidson	7 – Samuels	Galen Center (3,511) Los Angeles, CA
December 21, 2025* 5:30 p.m., ESPN	No. 19	vs. California Invisalign Bay Area Women's Classic	W 61–57	9–3	24 – Davidson	6 – Tied	3 – Samuels	Chase Center (6,258) San Francisco, CA
December 29, 2025 12:00 p.m., B1G+		at Nebraska						Pinnacle Bank Arena Lincoln, NE
January 3, 2026 5:00 p.m., Peacock		at UCLA Rivalry						Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
January 6, 2026 7:00 p.m., BTN		Oregon						Galen Center Los Angeles, CA
January 11, 2026 12:00 p.m., B1G+		at Minnesota						Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
January 15, 2026 6:00 p.m., Peacock		Maryland						Galen Center Los Angeles, CA
January 18, 2026 2:00 p.m., B1G+		Purdue						Galen Center Los Angeles, CA
January 22, 2026 5:00 p.m., BTN		at Michigan State						Breslin Center East Lansing, MI
January 25, 2026 11:00 a.m., BTN		at Michigan						Crisler Center Ann Arbor, MI
January 29, 2026 6:00 p.m., Peacock		Iowa						Galen Center Los Angeles, CA
February 1, 2026 2:00 p.m., B1G+		Rutgers						Galen Center Los Angeles, CA
February 5, 2026 6:00 p.m., BTN		at Northwestern						Welsh–Ryan Arena Evanston, IL
February 8, 2026 10:00 a.m., B1G+		at Illinois						State Farm Center Champaign, IL
February 12, 2026 7:00 p.m., BTN		Indiana						Galen Center Los Angeles, CA
February 19, 2026 6:00 p.m., Peacock		Wisconsin						Galen Center Los Angeles, CA
February 22, 2026 9:00 a.m./11:00 a.m., FOX/FS1		at Ohio State						Value City Arena Columbus, OH
February 25, 2026 3:00 p.m., B1G+		at Penn State						Bryce Jordan Center State College, PA
March 1, 2026 3:00 p.m., FS1		UCLA Rivalry						Galen Center Los Angeles, CA
Big Ten Women's Tournament
March 4–8, 2026 TBA		vs.						Gainbridge Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time.

Source: USCTrojans.com^[1]

Game summaries

This section will be filled in as the season progresses.

Source:^[2]

vs New Mexico State

BTN+

November 4, 2025
7:00 p.m. PST

Recap

New Mexico State Aggies 48, No. 18 USC Trojans 87
Scoring by quarter: 13-20, 10-25, 16-20, 9-20
Pts: Lucia Yenes - 27 Rebs: Lucia Yenes - 5 Asts: Emma Christiano - 4		Pts: Londynn Jones - 16 Rebs: Kara Dunn - 8 Asts: Tied - 4

Galen Center • Los Angeles, California
Attendance: 3,971
Referees: Teresa Turner, Maj Forsberg, Lisa Jones

No. 9 NC State (Ally Tipoff)

ESPN

November 9, 2025
12:00 p.m. PST

Recap

No. 18 USC Trojans 69, No. 9 NC State Wolfpack 68
Scoring by quarter: 18-20, 15-14, 17-24, 19-10
Pts: Jazzy Davidson - 21 Rebs: Kennedy Smith - 8 Asts: Jazzy Davidson - 4		Pts: Zoe Brooks - 24 Rebs: Khamil Pierre - 18 Asts: Zoe Brooks - 6

Spectrum Center • Charlotte, North Carolina
Attendance: 5,208
Referees: Kristen Bell, Melissa Barlow, Gina Gross

South Carolina (The Real SC)

FOX

November 15, 2025
6:00 p.m. PST

South Carolina Gamecocks 69, USC Trojans 52

Crypto.com Arena • Los Angeles, California
Attendance: 8,150

vs Portland

BTN+

November 18, 2025
7:00 p.m. PST

Portland Pilots vs. USC Trojans

Galen Center • Los Angeles, California

at Notre Dame

ESPN

November 21, 2025
3:00 p.m. PST

USC Trojans vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Joyce Center • South Bend, Indiana

vs Tennessee Tech

BTN+

November 25, 2025
7:00 p.m. PST

Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles vs. USC Trojans

Galen Center • Los Angeles, California

vs Pepperdine

BTN+

November 28, 2025
2:00 p.m. PST

Pepperdine Waves vs. USC Trojans

Galen Center • Los Angeles, California

vs Saint Mary's

BTN+

December 2, 2025
7:00 p.m. PST

Saint Mary's Gaels vs. USC Trojans

Galen Center • Los Angeles, California

vs Washington

BTN

December 7, 2025
5:00 p.m. PST

Washington Huskies vs. USC Trojans

Galen Center • Los Angeles, California

vs UConn

FOX

December 13, 2025
2:30 p.m. PST

UConn Huskies vs. USC Trojans

Galen Center • Los Angeles, California

vs Cal Poly

BTN+

December 18, 2025
7:00 p.m. PST

Cal Poly Mustangs vs. USC Trojans

Galen Center • Los Angeles, California

California (Invisalign Bay Area Women's Classic)

ESPN2

December 21, 2025
5:30 p.m. PST

USC Trojans vs. California Golden Bears

Chase Center • San Francisco, California

at California

at UCLA (Rivalry)

vs Oregon

at Minnesota

vs Maryland

vs Purdue

at Michigan State

at Michigan

vs Iowa

vs Rutgers

at Northwestern

at Illinois

vs Indiana

vs Wisconsin

at Ohio State

at Penn State

vs UCLA (Rivalry)

Player statistics

Individual player statistics
			Minutes		Scoring		Total FGs			3-point FGs			Free-Throws			Rebounds
Player	GP	GS	Tot	Avg	Pts	Avg	FG	FGA	Pct	3FG	3FGA	Pct	FT	FTA	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Avg	A	Stl	Blk	TO

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP	18	8	11	18	16	16	19	17													Not released
Coaches	16	10	11	18	18	17	19	16

References

^ "2025–2026 USC Women's Basketball Schedule". USCTrojans.com. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
^ "2025-26 Women's Basketball Schedule". USC Athletics.

External links

[1] "2025–2026 USC Women's Basketball Schedule". USCTrojans.com. Retrieved September 19, 2025.

[2] "2025-26 Women's Basketball Schedule". USC Athletics.

[1]

[2]

USC Trojans women's basketball
Venues	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena (1976–2006) Galen Center (2006–present)
Rivalries	UCLA Crosstown Cup
Culture & lore	History "Fight On" Traveler Full Court Press
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

Previous season

Offseason

Departures

Incoming transfers

2025 recruiting class

2026 recruiting class

Roster

Schedule and results

Game summaries

vs New Mexico State

No. 9 NC State (Ally Tipoff)

South Carolina (The Real SC)

vs Portland

at Notre Dame

vs Tennessee Tech

vs Pepperdine

vs Saint Mary's

vs Washington

vs UConn

vs Cal Poly

California (Invisalign Bay Area Women's Classic)

at California

at UCLA (Rivalry)

vs Oregon

at Minnesota

vs Maryland

vs Purdue

at Michigan State

at Michigan

vs Iowa

vs Rutgers

at Northwestern

at Illinois

vs Indiana

vs Wisconsin

at Ohio State

at Penn State

vs UCLA (Rivalry)

Player statistics

Rankings

See also

References

External links