USC Trojans women's basketball

Updated on Dec 21, 2023

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All-time record 727–455 Nickname Trojans Home Away Arena Galen Center		Location Los Angeles, CA Colors Cardinal and Gold Head coach Beth Burns Conference Pacific-12 Conference

University University of Southern California

The USC Trojans women's basketball, or Women of Troy, is the collegiate women's basketball team that represents the University of Southern California, in the Pac-12 Conference. The team rose to prominence in 1976. At that time scholarships became available to female basketball players. They were the first Division 1 team to do so.

History

The Women of Troy made their first appearance in the Final Four in the 1981 AIAW Tournament. Following the successful 1982 season, in which USC reached the Elite Eight of the first NCAA Tournament, the Trojans went on to win national championships in 1983 and 1984. The 1983 championship team included three All-Americans, Paula Mcgee, Cheryl Miller, and Rhonda Windham. The 1983 team went 31–2 in the regular and post-season combined. The 1983 team bested their opponent, Louisiana Tech, by a mere 2 points. The final score was 69–67. The 1984 championship team went 29–4 in the regular and post season. The 1984 team faced University of Tennessee. The victory this year came by a healthy eleven points. The final score was 72–61. USC made the National Championship again in 1986 but did not prevail. They lost to University of Texas 97–81. They have yet to appear in the National Championship since then.

In 1987 and 1994 the Trojans won the Pac-10 Championship. The Trojans had their longest time of not making it to the playoffs starting in 1998. That streak was broken when the team made it to the playoff bracket in 2005. Not until 2011 did the Trojans make it to the post season again. In 2006 USC opened the Galen Center. The Galen Center was the new home of the Women of Troy. It can seat over 10,000 fans. In 2007 the Galen Center was sold out for a game between the Trojans and the University of California Los Angeles. It was the first time in history that a NCAA women's basketball game was sold out. Every year since 1986 at least one member of the Trojans team has been honored in the Pac-10 awards. To date, eleven players who played for USC have won Olympic medals.

The head coaching job was taken over by former Women of Troy player Cynthia Cooper-Dyke for the 2013–14 season.

2012–13 Season

With only one senior and three juniors on the team, the Women of Troy had low expectations for the 2012–13 campaign. After dropping the first game to Gonzaga, USC won 3 of its next 4 games, its only loss coming to the (at the time) #23 in the country, University of Nebraska. After a 3–2 start, the Women of Troy lost their next 6 games by an average of 16.5 points, thus wrapping up their non-conference schedule with a 3–8 record heading in to Pac-12 play.

They started their play in the Pac-12 hot, winning their first four games over University of Oregon, Oregon State University, University of Washington, and Washington State University. But then came the real challenge when they faced off against the #7 team in the country, California Golden Bears. USC managed to stay in the game and force OT, but ended up losing by 8, 71–63. After that, wins were hard to come by for the Women of Troy, losing 10 out of their next 11 after the Cal game. They finished off the regular season with two wins over University of Arizona and Arizona State University. They finished the regular season with a 10–19 record overall and 7–11 in conference play.

They had a seven seed in the Pac-12 conference tournament where in their first game they beat the 10 seed, Oregon State, 64–57. But they fell in their next game to the 2 seed, California, 78–59. As they did not have the record to qualify for the NCAA tournament, USC's season was complete with an overall record of 11–20. Junior Cassie Harberts led the team in points (18.0 per game) and rebounds (8.2 per game).

Five days after the Women of Troy's season finished, March 13, head coach Michael Cooper step downed from his position. Cooper was head coach for four seasons, failing to reach the NCAA tournament in all four seasons. About a month later, on April 11, USC announced they had hired Cynthia Cooper-Dyke as head coach. Cooper-Dyke played for USC and was on the two national championship teams.

Notable Players

Michelle Campbell, played 1993–1997, then played for the Washington Mystics a WNBA team in 2000.

Cynthia Cooper, played 1982–1986. Cooper helped lead the team to its only National Championships (1983, 1984) and in 1988 won an Olympic gold medal with the U.S. national basketball team in Seoul. She also played with the Houston Comets in the WNBA, where the team won titles in 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000. Signed as head coach at Prairie View A&M University in 2005, then UNC Wilmington in 2010, followed by Texas Southern in 2012. She became the USC head coach for the 2013–14 season.

Lisa Leslie, played 1990–1994. She set many records in points and rebounds and in 1994 she was National Player of the Year. She got a contract with the WNBA in 1997, becoming one of the new league's first players, where she joined the Los Angeles Sparks. In 2001, she was the first WNBA player to win the regular season MVP, the All-Star Game MVP and the playoff MVP in the same season. Lisa also led the Los Angeles Sparks to two back-to-back WNBA Championships (2001, 2002). Lisa won 4 Olympic Gold medals and was the first woman in the WNBA to make a slam-dunk during an official game. In 2009 she retired and is now a team owner of the Los Angeles Sparks.

Tina Thompson, played 1993–1997. Thompson led USC to the NCAA tournament 3 times (1994, 1995, 1997) and to one Elite 8 (1994). In 1994 she was named Freshmen of the Year in the Pac-10 Conference and Freshmen All-America by Basketball Times. In 1997 she was the first overall draft pick in the WNBA by the Houston Comets, she became the first draftee in the history of the WNBA. She helped lead the Comets to 4 WNBA Championships in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000. Thompson played for Houston Comets from 1997–2008, the Los Angeles Sparks from 2009–2011, and the Seattle Storm from 2012–2013.

Cheryl Miller, played 1982–1986. She led the Women of Troy to two National Championships (1983, 1984) and won the NCAA tournament MVP both years. She also coached for the Women of Troy for 2 seasons (1993–1995). In her 2 seasons she had a combined 44–14 record and went to the NCAA tournament both seasons, making a Regional Final once. She then went on to coach in the WNBA for the Phoenix Mercury (1997–2000). She was inducted to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999.

Nicky McCrimmon, played 1992–1994, then for the Los Angeles Sparks in 2000,and Houston Comets in 2005.

Adrian Williams, played 1995–1999, then for the Minnesota Lynx 2006–2007.

Head Coaches

Linda Sharp (1977–1989) led The Women of Troy to 2 NCAA National Women Championships, 3 final four appearances. She ended her record with the Women of Troy with a 271–99 and was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001.

Marianne Stanley (1989–1993) Led The Women of Troy to the NCAA Tournament 3 years in a row and recruited future WNBA Stars Lisa Leslie, Tina Thompson and Nicky McCrimmon. She has been inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002.

Cheryl Miller (1993–1995) coached only 2 seasons for the Women of Troy. In her 2 seasons she had a combined 44–14 record and went to the NCAA tournament both seasons, making a Regional Final once. Cheryl Miller is also a former player of the Women of Troy where she led the Women of Troy to two National Championships (1983, 1984) and won the NCAA tournament MVP both years. She then went on to coach in the WNBA for the Phoenix Mercury (1997–2000). She was inducted to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999.

Fred Willams (1995–1997)

Chris Gobrecht (1997–2004)

Mark Trakh (2004–2009)

Michael Cooper (2009–2013) recently resigned as head coach for the Women of Troy. Of his 4 season he ended with a record of 61–37 (.622). As the head coach in 2009–10 season, he gave USC's best free-throw percentage (.725), the fewest turnovers (462) and fewest fouls (484) committed in Trojan history.

Cynthia Cooper-Dyke (2013–2017) a former Women of Troy player, who helped lead the team to its only National Championships (1983, 1984) and in 1988 won an Olympic gold medal with the U.S. national basketball team in Seoul. She also played with the Houston Comets in the WNBA, where she led the team to a record four consecutive WNBA championships (1997–2000). She took the head coaching job for the USC Women of Troy for the 2013–2014 season and remained until 2017.

Arenas

Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena was the Women of Troys' arena from 1977 until 2006. The Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena was opened in 1959.

Galen Center, which is 255,000 square feet, with a 45,000-square-foot pavilion, and has three practice courts and offices. The seating capacity is 10,258, and there are 22 private suites. Total construction cost was an estimated $147 million.
The working of the Galen Center started in 2004 by a donation of $50 million by Louis Galen (a successful banker and long-time Trojan fan). The Galen Center opened in 2006.

Year by year results

Conference tournament winners noted with # Source

References

USC Trojans women's basketball Wikipedia

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