USC Women's Basketball: Trojans Still Draw Massive Home Crowd After Rivalry Game
The USC Trojans are one of the most popular teams in the NCAA. They may be in a bit of a slump, but that has not stopped fans from filling the stands at the Galen Center to watch phenom freshman JuJu Watkins and fantastic players like McKenzie Forbes, Kayla Padilla, and Rayah Marshall.
The team's dynamic has been so exciting that it has led to sold-out crowds, especially when they faced their cross-town rivals, the UCLA Bruins.
Their matchup against the Bruins led to a program-best 10,657 fans in a sold-out Galen Center. Thuc Nhi Nguyen of the LA Times broke down the attendance records that the Trojans have been securing.
"After a program-best 10,657 fans sold out Galen Center for the matchup against UCLA on Jan. 14, USC entered Friday’s game with an average attendance of 3,462, more than three times last year’s average of 1,037. Before this season, USC hadn’t averaged even 2,000 fans a game this millennium."
The Trojans are one of the most exciting teams in all of sports, and it has a lot to do with Watkins. She performed a vicious ankle-breaking three-pointer during Friday night's game, which has since gone viral.
Watkins and company have made their presence known, and that is not lost on head coach Lindsay Gottlieb.
“We feel a huge responsibility that this is still a growing thing,” Gottlieb said. “There’s people that are loyal who have been here and there are people that are coming to their first time ever watching women’s basketball … It’s never lost on us, but it’s also a huge responsibility.”
via Thuc Nhi Nguyen, LA Times
Gottlieb and the head coach of the Bruins, Cori Close, have both commented on the popularity that their respective teams have been drawing. It is great to know more fans are cluing into how competitive and high-energy college women's basketball is.
The Trojans will look to rebound their current woes on February 2, when they take on #4 ranked Stanford.
