'Winners win': USC women's basketball's ceiling is high

BLOOMINGTON, IN – USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb has always known the ceiling was high for the Trojans. She put together a team with reigning National Freshman of the Year JuJu Watkins, two highly sought-after transfers and the top freshmen class in the country. 

But it’s the team’s winning mentality and ability to thrive in close games that have kept the Trojans among the best in the country this season with a 17-1 record. The Trojans always find a way to get it done, whether it’s against Ole Miss, UConn, Maryland, or in a 73-66 victory at Indiana on Sunday. 

“Winners win,” Gottlieb told On3. “You’ve got to figure out a way. I think we’re still learning each other. We still have a big upside to even get better, but when it comes down to it, I think we’ve got two things right: a defense that we really believe in… and we have scorers that when it comes to crunch time, are going to rise up versus shy away. I think those two things have made us successful, but I think we just have tough kids who want to win first and foremost.” 

The Trojans’ opponents average just 55.2 points, which ranks 14th in the country and they’re holding teams to just 0.64 points per play, which leads the nation. 

Watkins (25.3 ppg) and Stanford transfer Kiki Iriafen (18.4 ppg) account for more than half of the team’s scoring with 43.7 points per game.   

USC has just one falter this season – a 74-61 loss to No. 3 Notre Dame on Nov. 23. Gottlieb credits that loss for accelerating their trajectory. While a win certainly would’ve been ideal, the loss taught them a few valuable lessons, including a shared determination to tune out the outside noise. 

“[After that game], I said to them, ‘This is a chance where people are going to be in your ear,” Gottlieb said. “Are we under-performing? Are we not good enough? We have to block all that out and know what the standard is and try to get better.’ I think because we’ve done that and chosen that option, we really have improved, and I think that has served us well in the environments that we’ve faced since then.” 

The players agree with that sentiment. 

“It just gave us a chip on our shoulder,” Watkins told On3. “I think it prepared us for big moments. I don’t think we were prepared. Our coaches prepared us, but I think mentally, it kind of gave us a boost in handling adversity.” 

USC, now ranked No. 4 in the country and 7-0 in Big Ten play, still hasn’t reached their full potential. They’re often reliant on their freshmen who are still growing. Their 3-point shooting (32%) hasn’t reached the level they’ve hoped. 

There’s work to be done in a tough Big Ten schedule, but the expectations of a high ceiling remain the same. 

“I’ve felt that way the whole time,” Gottlieb said. “We certainly haven’t played perfectly all the time, but I’ve never wavered. I’ll tell the team this, that we have everything we need. We need freshmen to walk in and not be typical freshmen. We have some superstar players that are relied on to do those things – to make big shots and big plays again and again and make the right reads. And we need to keep getting better, but I’ve never wavered on the fact that we have everything that we need.”