While campus is decked out in “Beat the Bruins” and Conquest-related extras, women’s basketball faces another historic USC rivalry school — Notre Dame — Saturday at Galen Center. In just their 11th time meeting in program history, the No. 3 Trojans have a lot to prove against the No. 6 Fighting Irish, arguably USC’s biggest test in its slate of non-conference battles. 

The Trojans (4-0) have lept to a flying start, outsourcing opponents 363 to 190 in the team’s first four games. The toughest battle came in USC’s first game of the season against No. 17 Ole Miss (3-1), played in Paris, finishing in a nail-biting 68-66 win for the Trojans. 

“We have been trying to get our players ready for what’s coming forward … We’re better than we were from when we got off that plane from Paris,” said Head Coach Lindsay Gottlieb in a post-match press conference after the Trojans’ last game against Santa Clara University (3-1).

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The rest of USC’s games, however, have told a different story, beating the rest of their matchups by 30 points or more. The largest margin of victory came against Cal State Northridge (2-1) on Nov. 12, with the Trojans throwing down 124 points against the Matadors’ measly 39. 

The win smashed the previous record for the program’s largest point differential, beating the 75-point win margin by 10. The game also marked the largest amount of points scored in any women’s basketball game in program history, the previous record being 121 points against SMU in 1986. 

“Every day, we are just trying to get better at small things because we are so far from where we want to be,” Gottlieb said. “I just want the team to allow me to continue to challenge them and keep getting better.” 

As for individual performances, sophomore guard JuJu Watkins continues to prove herself as a game-maker in her second season. Watkins reached her 1000th point in college basketball against Santa Clara over the weekend, achieving the accomplishment faster than any basketball player in USC history. 

Watkins also accumulated 1000 points faster than NCAA greats like now-Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark who reached the 1000th point mark in her 40th game for the University of Iowa Hawkeyes, two games over Watkins’ record 38 games to reach the tally. 

“I am very blessed to be in this position,” Watkins said in a post-game press conference. “I am grateful for everybody here: coaches, staff [and] teammates. I couldn’t have done it without you. This is great, something to build off of.” 

Versatile in her scoring and distributing talents, Watkins is dangerous from both behind the arc and within the paint. Her skills have led her to score 30 or more points in 14 of her games at USC, a record for all USC basketball teams. 

Also, an offensive weapon for the Trojans is graduate forward Kiki Iriafen. A transfer out of Stanford, Iriafen won the 2024 Katrina McClain Award given to the best power forward in the nation, as well as the Pac-12 Most Improved Player of the Year, ensuring her role as an important player in Gottlieb’s system. 

On the Fighting Irish, freshman forward Kate Koval is the one to watch, coming off of two honors: USBWA National Freshman of the Week and ACC Co-Rookie of the Week. Koval proved herself in Notre Dame’s last games against Lafayette University and James Madison University, scoring a double-double in each. Overall, the rookie has recorded 51 points, 52 rebounds and 22 blocks to start the season. 

Another young player important to the Fighting Irish system is sophomore guard Hannah Hidalgo, who won ACC Co-Player of the Week after Notre Dame’s wins against Lafayette and JMU. 

Hidalgo first made her mark on the conference in his freshman season, racking up awards like the ACC Rookie of the Year and ACC Defensive Player of the Year. After Notre Dame won the conference, Hidalgo also made the AP All-America First Team, leading the Fighting Irish in points and assists. 

Both USC and the Fighting Irish have boasted wide win margins to start the season — a kind of dominance that will probably not show in Sunday’s game with the teams being so neck-in-neck. Additionally, Notre Dame lost to Oregon State in the Elite 8 in last year’s NCAA Tournament, similar to USC’s loss against the University of Connecticut at the same stage of March Madness. 

Last season’s losses mean both teams want to go far this year. And, the first step on that long, often-arduous road is played right here in Los Angeles on Saturday. The Trojans play Notre Dame at Galen Center at 1 p.m.