USC women’s basketball trio named All-Pac-12

Rising to the occasion · Junior forward Kristen Simon was named to the All-Pac-12 Team after leading USC in scoring and rebounding this year – Jo Danielle Esteban | Daily Trojan

Three Trojans garnered All-Pac-12 honors on Tuesday as the women’s basketball team continued preparations for its conference tournament, which begins on Thursday with a game against Cal.

Junior forward Kristen Simon was named to the All-Pac-12 Team, while senior guard Courtney Jaco was an honorable mention for the All-Pac-12 and All-Defensive teams. Freshman guard Minyon Moore rounded out the trio, earning a spot on the All-Freshman Team.

Simon is USC’s leading scorer and rebounder this season, and her spot on the All-Pac-12 Team is the first all-conference honor of her career. Simon was named Pac-12 Player of the Week on Dec. 5, and she has notched 10 double-doubles so far this campaign, leading the Trojans in scoring in 10 games and pacing the team in rebounds on 19 occasions. Simon also won Most Valuable Player at the Great Alaska Shootout in November, as she led the Trojans to victories over Missouri State and Portland.

Senior captain Jaco nabbed her second consecutive All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention this year (the All-Defensive Honorable Mention was the first of her career). The guard provides plenty of offense for the Trojans as the No. 2 all-time 3-point scorer in program history, and four more baskets from beyond the arc will tie her career high of 72 3-point makes in one season. But Jaco was also honored for her defense this year (she averages over a steal per game) and for her role as a workhorse, as she leads USC in minutes played.

Moore is the youngest member of the trio of all-conference Trojans, and she has already made her mark at USC. Moore was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week twice this season — most recently last week — and was the first player in program history to be selected as the USBWA National Freshman of the Week. Her 15 assists against Sacramento State in December was the second-highest single-game tally in USC history, and Moore leads her team in both steals (2.0) and assists (4.0) per game.

With this trio of stars in their lineup, the Trojans will now look to make a Cinderella run in the Pac-12 Tournament. Nine-seed USC will hope to edge Cal in the first round before upsetting top-seeded Oregon State in the quarterfinals. The Trojans’ tournament opener against the Bears tips off in Seattle at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday.