USC Women's Basketball: Trojans Remain In Upper Echelon Of Week 10 AP Ranking
After the lone blemish on their otherwise spotless 2023-24 NCAA season thus far was recorded in last week's 71-64 loss to the UCLA Bruins, your 12-1 USC Women of Troy rebounded in a big way this past week, notching two wins against a pair of Pac-12 nemeses in the Oregon Ducks and the Oregon State Beavers.
The UCLA defeat dropped USC on the Week 9 Associated Press poll, from sixth to ninth.
For the Week 10 Associated Press poll, USC holds steady at ninth with its now somewhat-blemished 12-1 record.
Relative to preseason expectations (they were pegged as the No. 21 team prior to their year's tipoff proper), the Trojans have far exceeded the prognosticators. Lindsay Gottlieb's club is propelled by one of the most prolific scorers in the game, standout freshman wing JuJu Wakins (who's averaging 26.1 points on .445/.424/.793 shooting splits, along with 7.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.4 steals and 1.8 blocks a night), the pride of Chatsworth's Sierra Canyon School, and one of the top two-way bigs, 6'4" junior center/forward Rayah Marshall.
Can USC realistically compete for its first NCAA title since the Cheryl Miller championships in 1983 and '84? Time will tell, but certainly the early returns look pretty darn good.
The program's 108.0 Offensive Rating ranks 27th out of 360 college clubs, while the team's 80.3 Defensive Rating is a still-robust 44th. USC's 2-1 Pac-12 record ranks a "measly" fourth in the conference.
