USC Women's Basketball: Trojans Legend Ranked Among Top 75 21st Century Athletes — in Any Sport

She earned her spot.

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Former USC women's basketball star Lisa Leslie landed at No. 74 on ESPN's list of the top 100 athletes in the 21st century. Leslie, who starred for USC from 1990-94, played professional basketball for the Los Angeles Sparks from 1997-09.

During her WNBA career, Leslie was one of the best in the league. She became a two-time WNBA champion, two-time WNBA Finals MVP, three-time WNBA MVP, and eight-time WNBA All-Star, and was the first player to ever dunk in a WNBA game.

The 6-foot-5 center was especially great defensively, winning two WNBA Defensive Player of the Year awards and leading the WNBA in blocks twice. She averaged 17.3 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per game. She is part of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame,

On top of her WNBA accomplishment, Leslie was part of four Olympic gold medal winning U.S. basketball teams from 1996-2008.

Leslie likely could rank higher on this list had she not spent a significant portion of her career playing before the year 2000.

Prior to going pro, Leslie went down as one of the greatest Trojans athletes of all time. A two-time All-American and four-time All-Pac-10, Leslie averaged 20.1 points per game for USC. Her final season with USC, 1994, was special. Leslie averaged 21.9 points per game on her way to winning the Naismith College Player of the Year and the Honda Sports Award, given to the best female athlete in any college sport. She remains the all-time leading shot blocker in USC history, and had her No. 33 retired by the school.

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