How to Watch USC Trojans vs. Minnesota Women's Basketball: Preview, Prediction, TV Channel

The No. 4 USC Trojans women's basketball team and star JuJu Watkins will face the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Thursday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. PT. The game will be broadcast on Peacock: Preview and prediction for the game at Galen Center.

USC Trojans guard JuJu Watkins (12) reacts after shooting the ball past Purdue Boilermakers guard Jordyn Poole (10) and scoring Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, during the NCAA women’s basketball game at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. USC Trojans won 79-37. / Alex Martin/Journal and Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The No. 4 USC Trojans women’s basketball team is 18-1, 9-0 in Big Ten conference play. The Women of Troy has had a week off but is back in action at Galen Center. The Trojans will face the 18-3 Minnesota Golden Gophers on Thursday night.

How to Watch:

The USC Trojans women’s basketball team will face the Minnesota Golden Gophers at 7 p.m. PT on Thursday at Galen Center in Los Angeles, California. The game broadcast will be on Peacock.

USC Trojans guard JuJu Watkins (12) reacts after shooting the ball past Purdue Boilermakers guard Jordyn Poole (10) and scoring Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, during the NCAA women’s basketball game at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. USC Trojans won 79-37. / Alex Martin/Journal and Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

USC vs. Minnesota Preview:

The USC Trojans last played on Jan. 22 in a dominating win against the Purdue Boilermakers. The Trojans only allowed Purdue to score 37 points in their matchup at Mackey Arena. 

Given the overall dominant performance, the Women of Troy had the opportunity to allow freshmen and other bench players more minutes. After the game, USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb spoke to the media about how well the young players on the Trojans are.

“We weren’t very pleased with our start but I thought our players really responded,” Gottlieb said. “I thought our freshmen were terrific. Two of them are sitting here. We have a lot of belief in that freshman class. We put them in very big moments and very big situations and they deliver as we expect them to. So, I thought the bench gave great minutes.”

The leading scorer for the Trojans was freshman guard Avery Howell with 18 points. Howell and freshman guard Kayleigh Heckel earned more minutes compared to past games. Heckel finished with 17 minutes and Howell with 23. The USC Trojans played how they always do, demonstrating that anyone on the team can step up in big moments.

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USC forward Kiki Iriafen was limited and exited the game against Purdue early out of precaution following a knee injury. The good news is that given a week off from game action, she is healthy and set to return against Minnesota.

The Minnesota Golden Gophers are 18-3, 6-3 in Big Ten conference play. Despite three losses, both the Trojans and Gophers have 18 wins on the season. Minnesota is coming off a 71-50 win against the Wisconsin Badgers. All three losses for Minnesota have come against ranked opponents.

The Gophers had four players score double-digit points against Wisconsin. Minnesota sophomore guard Grace Grocholski leads the team averaging 12.1 points. Junior forward Mallory Heyer will also be a player to watch, averaging 7.0 rebounds, and junior guard Amaya Battle leads with 4.2 assists and 2.0 steals per game. While Minnesota is unranked in the upcoming matchup, they were No. 23 when facing Wisconsin. The Golden Gophers are not a team to be counted out. 

Jan 12, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; USC Trojans guard Avery Howell (23) dribbles the ball past Penn State Nittany Lions guard Gabby Elliott (0) and Penn State Nittany Lions forward Tamera Johnson (5) during the fourth quarter at Galen Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images / Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

USC and Minnesota faced off just twice in history and have gone 1-1. The last time the two met was in 2003, with the Gophers getting the 84-61 win. This is Minnesota's first time traveling to Galen Center and it will be a tough environment to play in. 

USC vs. Minnesota Prediction:

The USC Trojans will defeat the Minnesota Golden Gophers, 84-69.

After USC’s game against Minnesota, the Trojans will face the 14-7 Iowa Hawkeyes on Feb. 2 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

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