{"id":676100,"date":"2026-03-23T13:53:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T13:53:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/676100\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T13:53:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T13:53:21","slug":"lindsay-gottlieb-usc-have-already-proved-this-season-is-no-preamble","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/676100\/","title":{"rendered":"Lindsay Gottlieb, USC have already proved this season is no preamble"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Welcome back to the Times of Troy newsletter, where, as colleague Chaunte\u2019l Powell pointed out<\/a> after Saturday\u2019s thrilling win<\/a>, you\u2019d be forgiven for having already looked ahead to the next women\u2019s college basketball season. <\/p>\n

After all, as the USC women stumbled into this NCAA tournament on a four-game losing streak, they hadn\u2019t offered much reason for optimism. When coach Lindsay Gottlieb added another five-star prospect \u2014 6-4 forward Sara Okeke \u2014 to the mix for \u201826 last week, it only made it more enticing to close the book on this season and start dreaming of where USC might end up in the next one.<\/p>\n

Fight on! Are you a true Trojans fan? <\/p>\n

Get our Times of Troy newsletter for USC insights, news and much more.<\/p>\n

By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service<\/a>, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy<\/a> such as personalizing your experience and ads. <\/p>\n

But this team, the one set to face No. 1 South Carolina on Monday night for a spot in the Sweet 16, has been limited from the start without an injured JuJu Watkins.<\/p>\n

Through most of three quarters of Saturday\u2019s first-round matchup with Clemson, the same issues that bothered USC through much of the season were bothersome once again. The Trojans had hit just three of 17 from three-point range heading into the fourth quarter. They made six free throws. They were outrebounded. And the bench had contributed all of two points. Gottlieb was frustrated.<\/p>\n

But Saturday\u2019s final quarter, plus overtime, would prove to be the defining stretch of this USC women\u2019s basketball season. During those 15 minutes, we saw exactly what Gottlieb meant when she insisted her team had another level to unlock in the tournament.<\/p>\n

This was the team Gottlieb had envisioned when building for a JuJu-less roster.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d play with a lot of grit,\u201d Davidson told reporters after the game, \u201cand a lot of heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

That came through on the defensive end most, as USC forced six turnovers and scored eight points off of them in the fourth quarter alone. Clemson didn\u2019t manage a single second-chance point in the second half. Kara Dunn, who\u2019d barely been a factor, found herself in the final minutes and blew up for 11 points in a seven-minute stretch. And freshman Jazzy Davidson turned things up another notch as well, scoring 13 over fourth quarter and overtime.<\/p>\n

There were others, too. Kennedy Smith hit a tying jumper late, in addition to her relentless defense. Malia Samuels drained a late free throw to put Clemson away. Laura Williams had a late block with the game tied. That sort of alchemy had been rare through this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were playing for each other,\u201d Dunn said. \u201cWe made the changes we needed to make, and we didn\u2019t repeat the same mistakes we had probably in the past. I really felt like we came together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even still, it might have all been for naught, had Clemson\u2019s Mia Moore lifted off a couple milliseconds later for her final buzzer beater. Her successful last-second heave \u2014 as well as the whistle on USC \u2014 were both called off after a lengthy review so close it required a stop watch.<\/p>\n

Those few milliseconds turned out to be the break USC hadn\u2019t gotten all season. They told each other in the sideline huddle that they would take advantage.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we heard it was overtime,\u201d Dunn said, \u201cwe said we don\u2019t get second chances in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

So the Trojans defense turned up yet another notch, while its star freshman went nuclear in overtime. A pair of clutch 3-pointers from Davidson would be the dagger. She would finish with 31 points, six rebounds and five assists in a performance that seemed to announce that this was just the start of her star turn.<\/p>\n

She \u2014 and everyone else \u2014 will have to be special Monday to even have a shot against South Carolina, a team that beat USC by 17 in November. The Gamecocks are the more talented team. Their opponents shot 34.5% on average against them this season, the fifth-best mark in the nation, while they shoot better from 3-point range (36.5%) than all but three teams left in the tournament.<\/p>\n

Chances are that\u2019ll prove too much for the Trojans, who enter this game as 22-point underdogs. But even if it does end here, USC found something on the court Friday, something that should in the very least help next season, when its ceiling will be higher than ever before.<\/p>\n

Times of Troy poll \"Eric <\/p>\n

Eric Musselman<\/p>\n

(Ronaldo Bolanos \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Two years into Eric Musselman\u2019s tenure with the Trojans, the USC men have yet to return to the NCAA tournament. This season, they totally unraveled, losing their last eight games to finish 18-14.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve heard varying feelings from fans about the nascent Musselman era. So let\u2019s make the conversation a bit more scientific with a poll:<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your confidence level in Eric Musselman as USC\u2019s men\u2019s basketball coach after two seasons? (with 1 being \u201cLet me off the Muss Bus\u201d to 5 being \u201cI\u2019m still riding shotgun on the Muss Bus\u201d<\/p>\n

1 \u2014 let me off the Muss Bus<\/p>\n

2<\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

5 \u2014 Riding shotgun on the Muss Bus<\/p>\n

Click here to vote in our survey<\/a> <\/p>\n

\"Matt <\/p>\n

Matt Leinart with USC in 2004.<\/p>\n

(Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u2014Five-star St. John Bosco forward Christian Collins committed to USC. <\/b>The No. 9 overall forward, per 247 Sports, Collins is the highest-rated player to join USC under Musselman and the highest-rated player Musselman has signed since 2022. Collins has all the tools to be a force on both ends, if he can put it all together. But he\u2019s not necessarily the type right now to be the center of a team\u2019s offensive attack. Expect him to get off to a slow start when he does arrive this summer.<\/p>\n

\u2014USC hoops assistant Todd Lee is finalizing a deal to become Cal State Bakersfield\u2019s coach, a source says. <\/b>Lee has been one of Musselman\u2019s most trusted assistants since they first worked together with the Rapid City Thrillers of the CBA back in the early 90\u2019s. Musselman hired Lee to join his Arkansas staff, then brought him along to USC. Now he heads to Bakersfield, where he inherits a program that\u2019s been through a lot this last year.<\/p>\n

\u2014Matt Leinart won\u2019t unretire his jersey. Good for him. <\/b>Leinart\u2019s podcast went viral last week, when he noted that USC asked him on multiple occasions if an incoming transfer or freshman could wear his No. 11 jersey. It\u2019s his prerogative if he wants to allow that. But I completely understand why he wouldn\u2019t. Why bother retiring jerseys at all if it doesn\u2019t actually mean anything?<\/p>\n

\u2014Mason Edwards\u2019 dominance on the mound continues. <\/b>The Trojan ace struck out 12 in his most recent start against Washington and gave up just one hit. Through 36 innings, Edwards now has given up just one run and seven hits. His fellow starter, Grant Govel, has been no slouch either. Govel leads the nation in wins (6) and, after a two-run outing, now has an ERA of 0.69 and he hasn\u2019t been the best starting pitcher on his team. Wild.<\/p>\n

Olympic sports spotlight<\/p>\n

It has been a tough few weeks for USC women\u2019s lacrosse. Through their most difficult stretch of the season, the Trojans have lost four straight, all to ranked teams, by a margin of 67-31. That\u2019s the first time in program history that USC has had a losing streak that long.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a concern when you consider that USC lost five out of seven to finish out last season, too. The Trojans gave up 20 goals in a game for just the first ever against Johns Hopkins last week and were trounced by Maryland in the follow-up.<\/p>\n

With one more loss, USC would match its loss total from 2025 \u2026 with five games still remaining.<\/p>\n

What I\u2019m watching this week \"PJ <\/p>\n

PJ and Anthony in \u201cJury Duty.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Courtesy of Prime)<\/p>\n

When it premiered in 2023, \u201cJury Duty<\/b>\u201d was one of the most surprising and unique shows I could remember airing on TV. The first season followed Ronald, an unsuspecting, totally normal guy who was called to jury duty. What he didn\u2019t know is that everyone else involved was an actor. Hilarity ensued.<\/p>\n

The second follows Anthony, another unsuspecting normal guy on a company retreat for his new temp job.<\/p>\n

I figured it was impossible to make a second season, what with everyone\u2019s familiarity with the first go-round. But somehow Amazon has managed to make this work for another season. And that\u2019s a hell of an accomplishment in itself.<\/p>\n

In case you missed it<\/p>\n

Jazzy Davidson\u2019s huge game delivers USC to thrilling overtime win in NCAA tournament<\/a><\/p>\n

USC reaches settlement in Mike Bohn racial harassment and discrimination lawsuit<\/a><\/p>\n

How far will USC\u2019s women\u2019s basketball team make it in the tournament?<\/a><\/p>\n

Until next time …<\/p>\n

That concludes today\u2019s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you\u2019d like to see, email me at ryan.kartje@latimes.com<\/a>, and follow me on X at @Ryan_Kartje<\/a>. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome back to the Times of Troy newsletter, where, as colleague Chaunte\u2019l Powell pointed out after Saturday\u2019s thrilling…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":676101,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[115289,1582,276,10595,115290,115286,262,20976,2961,224,5337,7088,214,115291,443,6620,637,11547,115287,115288],"class_list":["post-676100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-bye-week","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-cincinnati","tag-college-game","tag-danton-lynn","tag-defense","tag-inaugural-season","tag-la","tag-los-angeles","tag-losangeles","tag-lot","tag-michigan","tag-ryan-kartje","tag-system","tag-time","tag-times","tag-troy","tag-usc-beat","tag-wink-martindale"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116278828620732238","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=676100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/676101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=676100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=676100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=676100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}