USC Trojans sports roundup: Basketball All-Americans, soccer keeps rolling, more

Here is your USC sports roundup for October 23, 2024.

USC women's basketball has two preseason All-Americans

With the college basketball season right around the corner, preseason accolades are being handed out. This week, two members of the USC women's basketball team were named preseason All-Americans.

Juju Watkins, a 6-foot-2 sophomore shooting guard and Kiki Iriafen, a 6-foot-3 senior forward were both named to the preseason All-American team by the Associated Press. They are the first teammates named preseason All-Americans since the 2017-18 season.

Watkins returns to USC after a standout freshman campaign. Last season, she was a first-team All-American after averaging 27.1 points per game.

Meanwhile, Iriafen is a transfer from Stanford. An honorable-mention All-American last season, she put up 19.4 points and 11.0 rebounds per game a season ago.

The USC women open the 2024-25 season in Paris, France, on Nov. 4, when they take on Ole Miss in an Aflac Oui-Play Game at Adidas Arena.

USC soccer picks up another ranked win

Sunday, the No. 9 USC soccer team picked up its second straight win over a ranked team by beating No. 16 Penn State. The 2-1 victory came in dramatic fashion.

With the game tied in the 90th minute, Helena Sampaio scored the game-winning goal on a free kick to give her team the win. With that result, USC moved to 13-1-2 overall and 9-0-1 in Big Ten action to sit in first place in the league.

In the first half, Aaliyah Farmer opened the scoring by putting USC ahead in the 23rd minute. For most of the remainder of the game, it appeared as if that goal would be the difference.

However, the Nittany Lions picked up the equalizer in the game's 88th minute. Fortunately, Sampaio was able to play the role of the hero just moments later. For her efforts, she was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week.

The Trojans next return to action on Sunday in the regular season finale. They will take on No. 8 UCLA at Dignity Sports Health Park's main stadium.

USC volleyball hosts a pair of home games

This week, the No. 16 USC volleyball team will host two home games. Thursday, the Trojans take on Michigan State, a team that is just 7-12 overall and 0-8 in Big Ten play. Then, on Saturday, they face a much tougher test when they tangle with No. 3 Penn State which is 18-1 overall and 8-0 in conference play.

The Trojans have won nine home matches in a row. They are 14-4 overall and 6-2 in Big Ten action. Both matches start at 8 p.m. Central and will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.

USC men's golf earns top-5 finish

This past weekend, the USC men's golf team had a nice showing at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate. Finishing fifth out of 14 teams, the Trojans managed to secure their third top-five team finish of the fall season.

"We did a really good job of preparing for the tournament and the golf course.  There was a lot of acclimating from the time we landed until the final putt went in, as Georgia didn't resemble California or Dallas, our last tournament," head coach Mark Hankins said. "We locked in and played three really good rounds; team depth was very apparent, and to shoot three rounds under par at this golf course is really solid. We posted four guys in the top 30, just a really good week for our program."

Finishing at three under par, Gavin Aurilia led the way for USC. That finish was good enough for 15th overall in the individual standings.

This was the final event of the fall season for the Trojans. They will begin the spring portion of the schedule in late January at the Southwestern Invitational in Lake Sherwood, California.