How To Watch Indiana’s Women’s Basketball Against USC In The Big Ten Tournament

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana’s women’s basketball team used motivation from a seven-point loss at Oregon to turn the tables on the Ducks in a 78-62 victory on Thursday in the Big Ten Tournament at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

The Hoosiers also lost by seven to Southern California on Jan. 19 at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, but engineering a similar about-face against the second-ranked Trojans is several degrees of difficulty harder than it was against Oregon.

Since USC played the Hoosiers in January, the Trojans are 10-1. Included was a season sweep of archrival UCLA to help USC win the Big Ten regular season championship in their first season in the conference. USC’s only loss in that stretch was a seven-point road loss at Iowa.

USC features the most prominent women’s college basketball player in the game – JuJu Watkins. The sophomore is as good as advertised – she averages 24.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. She had 22 points and six rebounds against Indiana in January.

As good as Watkins is, she is not the only threat in USC’s lineup.

Forward Kiki Iriafen is one of the best forwards in the Big Ten. She averages 18.1 points and 8.3 rebounds. The USC player who hurt Indiana in the previous matchup was forward Rayah Marshall. She had 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Those players are all capable of being more productive, and their numbers reflect how well Indiana played in the first meeting.

Indiana led 55-51 early in the fourth quarter before the Trojans chipped away at the Hoosiers’ advantage. Indiana hurt its cause by sending USC to the line 10 times in the final quarter. USC made eight of those free throws to keep Indiana from an upset bid.

“We put them at the free-throw line too much, so we can't foul,” Indiana coach Teri Moren said. “What we'll tell our kids, and we tell after every opponent, they don't need your help. Quit fouling them. Don't put them at the line. Make them have to earn everything.”

Moren also cited Indiana’s shooting in the first meeting. Indiana was just 8 of 29 from 3-point range. If the Hoosiers can combine foul-free defense with better shooting, they might make the Trojans work to advance in the tournament.

Indiana guard Shay Ciezki is ready for a rematch. If Indiana was able to pull the upset, their already solidifying NCAA Tournament chances would get a huge boost.

“We just need to make sure we're all locked in on the game plan and that we're hustling, we're rebounding,” Ciezki said. “They're a good team. They like to push pace or transition defense is going to be really important, too.”

Here’s how to watch Indiana’s game against USC.

How to watch Indiana vs. No. 2 Southern California

• Who: No. 9-seeded Indiana Hoosiers (19-11, 10-8) vs. No. 1-seeded Southern California Trojans (26-2, 17-1).
• What: Big Ten Tournament game.
• When: Friday, March 7 at noon ET.
• Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis.
• TV: Big Ten Network.
• Radio: WBWB in Bloomington.
• Radio announcer: Austin Render.
• Last game: Indiana defeated Oregon 78-62 in a Big Ten Tournament game on Thursday. USC defeated UCLA 80-67 on Saturday.
• Series history: USC leads 2-0. The Trojans won the season meeting in a 73-66 victory at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Jan. 19.
• Big Ten Tournament history: Indiana has a 24-31 record in the Big Ten Tournament. Indiana is 3-4 as the No. 9 seed in the field. Indiana won the Big Ten Tournament in 2002. USC has never competed in the Big Ten Tournament as it joined the Big Ten starting with the 2024-25 season.

Statistics

Southern California Trojans forward Kiki Iriafen (44) and Michigan State Spartans center Ines Sotelo (15) reach for the ball in the second half at the Galen Center. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Indiana Hoosiers
• Guards (as officially listed): Yarden Garzon (14.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 3.2 apg), Sydney Parrish (12.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg), Shay Ciezki (11.5 ppg, 2.9 apg), Chloe Moore-McNeil (9.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 4.3 apg), Lexus Bargesser (3.6 ppg), Julianna LaMendola (2.3 ppg, 2.1 rpg), Henna Sandvik (1.7 ppg), Valentyna Kadlecova (1.4 ppg).
• Forwards/centers: Karoline Striplin (10 ppg, 3.7 rpg), Lilly Meister (6.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg), Faith Wiseman (0.2 ppg, 0.8 rpg), Sharnecce Currie-Jelks (0.3 ppg).

No. 2 USC Trojans
• Guards: JuJu Watkins (24.4 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 3.6 apg), Kennedy Smith (10 ppg, 4 rpg), G-F Rayah Marshall (7.4 ppg, 8.6 rpg), Avery Howell (6.5 ppg), Kayleigh Heckel (6.2 ppg), Malia Samuels (2.1 ppg).
• Forwards/centers: Kiki Iriafen (18.1 ppg, 8.3 rpg), Clarice Akunwafo (1.2 ppg, 2.6 rpg).

Rankings

• USC is ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press poll.

Meet the coaches

• Teri Moren, Indiana: Moren is in her 11th season at Indiana and has a record of 245-110 with the Hoosiers. Her overall record in 22 years as a head coach is 444-240. Moren has been Big Ten Coach of the Year twice (2016, 2023). Moren previously coached at Indiana State from 2010-14 and at the University of Indianapolis from 2000-07. Moren was also an assistant coach at Butler (1992-98), Northwestern (1998-2000) and Georgia Tech (2007-10). Moren, a Seymour, Ind. native, played collegiately at Purdue from 1988-92.

• Lindsay Gottlieb, USC: Gottlieb is in her fourth season at USC and she has a record of 88-34 with the Trojans. Overall, Gottlieb is in her 15th season as a head coach. She was 179-89 in eight seasons at California and was 56-39 in three seasons at UC-Santa Barbara. Overall, Gottlieb has a career record of 323-162. Gottlieb, who played at Brown from 1995-99, was a student assistant during her senior season at Brown. After her career with the Bears ended, Gottlieb began her career as an assistant coach at Syracuse (1999-2001). She continued as an assistant with New Hampshire (2001-02), Richmond (2002-05), California (2005-08) before she took over as head coach at UCSB in 2008.

How to watch Indiana vs. No. 2 Southern California

Statistics

Rankings

Meet the coaches

Related stories on Indiana women's basketball ...