USC Women's Basketball: Trojans Achieve Huge Record Not Hit Since the 1980s
USC women's basketball isn't just coming off their best season in recent years, but in decades. The Trojans won the Pac-12 Tournament Championship for the first time in a decade and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 and NCAA Elite Eight for the first time in three decades, after last doing so in 1994.
Not only did they reach these milestones this season, but the team won their most games in almost forty years. The Trojans won 29 games this year for a 29-6 overall record, winning this many games for the first time since the 1985-1986 season, when the Trojans notched a 31-5 record. That 1986 season marked the last time the Trojans advanced past the Elite Eight, when they made it all the way to the national championship game before finishing as the runner up.
That 1985-1986 season was the final run for who is widely considered the best player is USC women's basketball history, Hall of Fame forward Cheryl Miller. Miller led USC to dominance during the 1980s, helping the team win two national championships in 1983 and 1984. The Trojans won at least 29 games in three of her four seasons there.
Now, the current USC team is looking to replicate this dominance. They have the star to do it with 18-year-old shooting guard JuJu Watkins, who just completed one of the greatest freshman seasons ever. Watkins broke the NCAA freshman scoring record, becoming the first women's college basketball players to surpass 900 points as a freshman (she finished with 920). Of course, it won't be that simple for Watkins and the team to completely dominate. There are several other powerhouses in the sport, including UConn and South Carolina. The Trojans have the capability to advance further than the Elite Eight and put together another 29 win season, but it will still be a challenge.
