Celebrating USC’s standout female athletes


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The Women of Troy’s leaders have demonstrated exceptional leadership and athletic skills during their USC careers. (Design: Kitty Huang; Photo (clockwise from top left): Colin Huang, Daily Trojan file photo, James Wolfe, Imran Tallman | Daily Trojan)

USC boasts many talented female athletes who have made strong impacts in their respective sports. In honor of International Women’s Day on Sunday, here are some of the standout women from USC’s spring sports teams:

Twanisha “TeeTee” Terry — Track and Field

Junior All-American sprinter TeeTee Terry has no one left to beat at USC but herself. In 2019, Terry broke her own school record in the 100-meter dash, which she first set as a freshman. She also anchored the four fastest 4×100-meter relays in USC history. 

As captain, TeeTee leads the team by example.

“She’s very dedicated— she leads by doing,” said Caryl Smith Gilbert, director of track and field. “She’s always there to lend a helping hand.” 

With over 37,000 followers on Instagram and 2,000 subscribers on YouTube, Terry says her fans, who she calls “Teebabies,” motivate her to be better.

“The different people around the world I inspire to go out there and be their best version of themselves, on the track, off the track … that kind of keeps me going,” Terry said in her most recent YouTube video. 

According to Gilbert, Terry’s work ethic is incomparable. 

“It’s going to be hard to ever replace TeeTee,” Gilbert said. “She has a desire to be great. She absorbs everything a coach says to her … She looks for advice. She looks for knowledge … That’s hard to come by — a hard worker who really wants to do what [coaches] tell them.”

After winning last week’s Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Indoor Championships race, Terry will compete alongside seven other USC women, the Women of Troy’s 4×400 meter relay team and four men in the 2020 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships where she will look to defend her NCAA indoor title in the 60-meter race.

Alissa Pili — Basketball

Four-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week and Pac-12 Freshman of the Year forward Alissa Pili dominated in her first season for the USC women’s basketball team. She is the first Trojan to earn the title of conference Freshman of the Year since 2009. 

“It’s a big accomplishment and I’m proud,” Pili said in an interview with USC Athletics. “And I’m just happy I’m making my family and everyone else really proud.”

The Anchorage, Alaska native is also the only USC women’s basketball player to be named to the All-Pac-12 Team as a freshman and is the lone freshman on this year’s honorary roster. 

As the second-highest leading scorer in conference games, Pili defied all expectations, including those of head coach Mark Trakh. 

“We thought she might not start at the beginning of the year,” Trakh said. “So she earned it. She came in, and she did everything that she needed to do, and she turned out to be a pretty good player … We’re very proud of what she did.” 

Her coach isn’t the only one Pili impressed, however. Rival UCLA coach Cori Close commended Pili’s strength.

“She’s stronger than anything,” Close said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “She is one of the best freshmen in our conference, certainly, but even around our country.” 

Angela Kulikov — Tennis

Senior captain Angela Kulikov has been a dominant force in both singles and doubles competition for the Trojans. In her impressive junior campaign last year, she and her partner Rianna Valdes came into the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 doubles pair in the country. Kulikov was also named to the All-Pac-12 Second Team after going 16-4 in singles play.

Kulikov is having a strong senior season thus far. She was most recently ranked No. 27 in singles before upsetting No. 15 Cal freshman Haley Giavara Saturday. She and freshman partner Eryn Cayetano were the No. 16 pair before falling to Giavara and freshman Valentina Ivanov.

Kulikov said her motivation comes from knowing she can be a role model for the game’s next generation.

“I think it’s super important that, for one, [motivation] comes from yourself,” Kulikov said. “It’s easy to want to please other people, please your parents, please your teammates. But I think as I’ve gotten older … [I saw] that can make an impact on those younger than me and those who are going to come up next, so I’d say that’s the biggest motivation from me at this point in my career.”

Kelsey McIntosh — Water Polo

Senior driver and Southern California native Kelsey McIntosh has been a consistent scoring threat across her four years at USC. She scored 21 goals in her freshman season, and as a sophomore, she was instrumental in the Trojans’ MPSF Tournament victory with 2 goals in the championship match against Stanford.

McIntosh stepped up her game even further during her junior year, scoring 34 goals with 10 multiple-goal performances. She once again came in clutch in the tournament setting, putting up 2 goals in the MPSF Tournament and 2 more in the NCAA Tournament. Following the season, McIntosh was named an All-American Honorable Mention and All-MPSF Honorable Mention.

USC head coach Marko Pintaric said that while McIntosh has had to work to become the scoring threat she is now, she has always had a high aptitude for the game.

“Her water polo IQ is very high, [but] she was more of a passer coming out of high school and a set player,” Pintaric said. “So she grew offensively and became a very good shooter and somebody that you can’t leave open right now. Definitely a problem for opponents.”

This season, McIntosh is fourth in scoring for the Trojans with 19 goals through 13 games.

Although McIntosh is an important offensive instrument for the team, Pintaric said her most important role comes as a leader.

“She’s one of the team captains, so definitely I would say [her] leadership [stands out],” Pintaric said. “She’s [the] coach’s voice in the locker room and the reason why we are the team [that] we are right now.”