It is still two months until the Women’s NCAA Tournament Selection Show. There is a lot of basketball to be played. USC women’s basketball did not clinch or lock up anything with its victory over Maryland on Wednesday night. We’re not getting ahead of ourselves. Yet, we can plainly acknowledge this was a huge win for the Trojans in their pursuits of big prizes: a No. 1 seed at the Women’s NCAA Tournament and a Big Ten regular-season championship. If you were to look at the landscape right now — Thursday, January 9, 2025 — you would probably be inclined to say that USC is more likely than not to be a No. 1 seed. You would put USC on par with UCLA — maybe not ahead of the Bruins, but certainly not behind them, either — in the race for the Big Ten title.
In our story on the Maryland win, we looked at the USC players who made a difference for the Women of Troy. In this article, we will explain and unpack why this win is so significant for this 2025 team and for the program at large. There’s plenty to talk about after a 79-74 come-from-behind statement win on the East Coast. Let’s talk:
TOP-10 ROAD WIN
USC women’s basketball added a top-10 road win (Maryland was No. 8 in the country heading into Wednesday’s game) to its previous top-10 road win at UConn. Name a better pair of road wins for any women’s college basketball team so far this season. South Carolina lost at UCLA. UCLA does not yet have road wins as good as USC’s. Notre Dame comes pretty close with road wins at USC and North Carolina. You get the point: USC’s resume looks really, really strong at 15-1 with multiple high-end road victories plus the neutral-court win over Ole Miss and the home-court wins over Michigan and Nebraska. That’s a No. 1 seed-level resume.
DEALING MARYLAND ITS FIRST LOSS
Maryland and Brenda Frese had not lost a game yet this season. For USC to win this game the way it won, on the road in College Park, got everyone’s attention. Maryland played well, too. This was USC beating a really good team on the road, and the Trojans weren’t even at their best for much of the night. This will make a huge impression on the selection committee in March, provided that it’s a close call between USC and another team for a No. 1 seed.
RECRUITING
USC, in the new Big Ten, gets to go to the East Coast and enjoy ample publicity whenever it visits a new school. Maryland has Washington, D.C. media amplifying the Terrapins. USC got some Washington Post coverage of its comeback win. Recruits in the East who saw this game watched the Trojans display their toughness and quality. Lindsay Gottlieb just gained a new recruiting tool and advertisement for future USC recruiting classes. She can continue to recruit nationally and attract elite talent to Los Angeles.
BIG TEN RACE, PART ONE
Ohio State beat Michigan on Wednesday, staying unbeaten for the season. USC plays Ohio State in February. Winning this game against Maryland enables USC to set up that Ohio State game as a battle which puts the winner alongside UCLA as the co-Big Ten favorite entering the home stretch.
BIG TEN RACE, PART TWO
With USC winning head to head against another Big Ten title contender, that puts pressure on both UCLA and Ohio State to hold serve. Ohio State and UCLA will both have to deal with each other and Maryland. USC edged in front of the Big Ten race for the moment. It’s a high-leverage win for the Women of Troy.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC makes huge statement in races for No. 1 seed, Big Ten championship
