USC Women’s Basketball Start Season 3–0 With Win Over Charleston

LOS ANGELES — The No. 3 USC Trojans Women's basketball squad remains perfect to begin the 2026-27 season, as they overpowered the College of Charleston Cougars by a 105-44 final at the Galen Center on Tuesday night.  

For a third straight game, the Trojans scored 100 points or more, marking just the second time in school history — last achieved in the 1980 season — the Women of Troy have had a three-game stretch where they hit the century mark.  

"I'm not hunting 100-point games; I'm hunting the efficiency on here," head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said following the historic win. 

The Women of Troy flat out dominated the first quarter against the Cougars. That lopsided figure in the first quarter was anchored by the tenacity on defense that USC showed, as they kept Charleston to just four made field goals (36% shooting from the floor) and seven turnovers. 

While the defense pressed, the offense sparked, with Jazzy Davidson leading the way with nine first-quarter points and ending the quarter on a 22-4 run and shooting 48% from the floor. 

Nothing changed in the final frame of the first half, as the big three led the scoring down the stretch. Saniyah Hall (11 points), Davidson (15 points), and Watkins (16 points) entered the halftime tunnel with double digits. 

Watkins picked up two more steals in the second quarter and ballooned her total to four in just the first half. The Women of Troy's largest run of the half was an 18-0 run that catapulted them to a 58-23 lead at halftime. 

The scoring to begin the second half came in bunches for Hall. She had 11 points in the third quarter, raising her total to 22 points, marking the third straight game in which she's scored 20 or more points. 

For Hall, she becomes the second Big Ten player to start her career with three straight 20-point games since Caitlin Clark did it in 2020-21 (five straight games). 

"I think just reading the defense is very important," Hall said postgame. "Not forcing anything and letting the game come to you; I try to keep those two things in mind." 

Hall and Davidson would lead the Women of Troy in scoring with 24 points each. The true freshman went 8-for-15 from the field with eight rebounds, while Davidson went 9-for-17 with four rebounds, four assists, and three blocks — tying Sitaya Fagan in blocks.  

Watkins joined Davidson and Hall in the 20-point club, scoring an even 20 on 7-for-13 shooting with six assists and a team-high four steals. 

The Women of Troy finished the quarter shooting an even 50% from the floor and 56% in the second half as a whole. 

With the win, the Women of Troy now set their sights on one of the biggest games of the season on Sunday, as they face off against the No. 1 team in the nation, the South Carolina Gamecocks. 

The Trojans are winless against the Gamecocks, with South Carolina winning all four of their previous matchups. They last faced off during the second round of last year's NCAA tournament, and it was all South Carolina, eliminating the Trojans by a 101-61 final.