It is early in the season, but this is already looking like a historic campaign for USC women’s basketball. The Trojans logged a dominating 124-39 rout of the CSUN Matadors on Tuesday, and broke multiple program records in the victory As if scripted, it also happened to be coach Lindsay Gottlieb’s 300th career win.
This was the largest margin of victory ever for USC basketball, women’s or men’s; and 124 was the most points scored against any opponent. The team also registered 17 3-pointers, which the USC record book shows is the most for the Trojans in a single game since the 1987-88 season.
“There has not been one single day when I haven’t thought at one time, ‘I can’t believe I get paid to do this.'” Gottlieb told her team after the game. “I’ve been sad, I’ve been mad. I’ve been happy. I’ve been everything in between, but always, always grateful … It has been the honor of my lifetime to be the coach here and to do what we are doing here together.”
The Trojans had gone 7 for 39 from outside in their first two games of the season, and they even had an upset scare during the season opener against Ole Miss. However, Gottlieb kept encouraging her team and she was happy it all finally worked out on Tuesday.
“I thought tonight we kept our foot on the gas defensively. We tried to really compete against the details of the game,” she said. “We pushed the ball, we moved the ball, we shot it well. So I’m happy for our players to see the ball go in because I knew we are a good shooting team and we’d heat up a little bit.”
The first three quarters were particularity lopsided as the Trojans outscored their opponents 97-20. CSUN only made 12 field goals the entire night and gave USC 63 points off 43 turnovers.
Per usual, JuJu Watkins led the way with 21 points and was just one assist shy of a double-double. She also contributed on the defensive end with six steals and three blocks. However, Tuesday was a full team effort with five other Trojans reaching double figures. All 13 players who checked into the game scored at least two points.
Transfers Kiki Iriafen and Talia von Oelfhoffen once again showed how much deeper they make this team. Iriafen contributed with 15 points going 6 of 9 from the field, including both of her attempts from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, von Oelfhoffen did not hit a shot from beyond the arc in the first two games, but she made three on Tuesday, scoring 13 points on the night.
Freshman Kennedy Smith added 10 points, while returner Rayah Marshal gave the Trojans nine points and nine rebounds. The bench also did a good amount of the work and showed how bright the future is for USC with freshmen Kayleigh Heckel and Avery Howell putting up 14 and 11 points, respectively.
Galen Center was popping, and the Trojans will play there again on Friday when they host Santa Clara. Meanwhile, CSUN will try to bounce back with a road game against Fresno State on Nov. 22.
