The city of stars will take its turn as the epicenter of women’s college basketball when Los Angeles plays host to two of the most monumental non-conference contests of the young season this weekend. Not since the 1970s and ’80s have the city’s major programs had such a hold on the game’s landscape.
No. 3 USC and No. 5 UCLA, the city’s two major collegiate programs, finished last season ranked together in the top 10 of the Associated Press’s final poll for the first time in 20 years. Each grew stronger via the offseason transfer portal, leading to the first time since 1982 they both ranked top 10 in the AP preseason poll.
They’ll each face the toughest test to those rankings on their home courts. USC (4-0) hosts No. 6 Notre Dame (4-0) on Saturday (4 p.m. ET, NBC/Peacock) at the sold-out Galen Center while UCLA (4-0) hosts No. 1 South Carolina (4-0) at Pauley Pavilion on Sunday (4 p.m. ET, FS1).
All four teams feature Player of the Year favorites, future WNBA prospects and rosters deep with championship-level talent. It’s conceivable that the four will return to the same city again in April when Tampa hosts the 2025 Final Four.
South Carolina, led by junior forward Chloe Kitts, is the odds-on favorite to repeat and enters the game riding a 43-game win streak. The Gamecocks are three-time NCAA champions under head coach Dawn Staley and in the midst of a dynastic run.
Yet, the brightest star resides in Los Angeles, where JuJu Watkins placed the Trojans back on center stage two decades after USC icon Lisa Leslie and four since Cheryl Miller did the same. Leslie was the last star to helm a top-10 squad at USC, while Miller brought the Trojans back-to-back championships in 1983-84. The sophomore Watkins became the fourth-fastest player in NCAA history to reach 1,000 career points and could eventually overtake the Division I women’s scoring record from Caitlin Clark.
UCLA experienced the most consistent success of the L.A. schools in the 44 years since the NCAA took governance of women’s sports from the AIAW. Ann Meyers-Drysdale led the Bruins to a historic 1978 AIAW national championship at home in Los Angeles in what was a then-record crowd and the first time the AIAW title game was televised. But they have never reached an NCAA Final Four.
Notre Dame has nine to its name, winning titles in 2001 and 2018 under former head coach Muffet McGraw. Niele Ivey, a player or assistant coach in all of them, continued to pay homage to the school’s lineage of standout guards, including her. Olivia Miles, Hannah Hidalgo and Sonia Citron combine to be one of the country’s best backcourts.
Recent showings: Notre Dame is 8-2 in the series, but the sides haven’t met since the Fighting Irish won on Nov. 25, 2011, in the Bahamas. USC’s last win was at home on Nov. 24, 2006.
Headliners: Watkins, a Los Angeles native, is a generational talent and face of the season, rivaled only by East Coast star Paige Bueckers at UConn. She’s a three-level scorer with size, skill and power who doesn’t have to carry the brunt of the scoring load this season (though her 21.5 ppg still rank 23rd). She’s a defensive standout as well, ranking top 10 in steals (3.8) and blocks (3) per game. Senior forward Kiki Iriafen is a WNBA lottery prospect averaging 17.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.
Notre Dame will go as its guards go, and so far, that’s working out quite well. Guards Hidalgo (25 ppg, 5.3 spg) and Miles (18.3 ppg, 8 rpg, 6.8 apg) are playing well off each other in their first season together, and both are shooting at least 50% overall and 47.4% from 3.
The plot: The Trojans were tested out of the gate against then-No. 20 Ole Miss in the Aflac Oui-Play Game in Paris to start the season; this is the first major game for Notre Dame. They boast top-10 offenses averaging more than 90 points per game, a number that will drop in conference play. Both are still developing chemistry around key frontcourt transfers and will be better in March than in November.
Notre Dame holds the backcourt advantage, but is still battling a lingering injury bug that’s decimated their returning cast of forwards, Maddy Westbeld and Kylee Watson. Graduate transfer Liatu King (17.7 ppg, 73.5 FG%) missed the last game in concussion protocol, and 6-foot-5 freshman forward Kate Koval is still adjusting to the college game. The Fighting Irish defense will likely look to follow Ole Miss’ lead and shut down everyone around Watkins, forcing the sophomore to carry the team herself.
Recent showings: South Carolina is 4-1 in the all-time series, including a regular season and NCAA tournament victory in 2022-23.
Headliners: Kitts (14 ppg, 6 rpg) is the answer to South Carolina’s lingering question, which was who would replace WNBA lottery pick Kamilla Cardoso and continue the program’s lineage of strong posts. Guards MiLaysia Fulwiley, who is averaging 12.8 ppg while shooting 45.6 FG% off the bench, and fifth-year senior Te-Hina Paopao, a WNBA first-round prospect averaging 13.4 ppg (51.8 FG%, 40.9 3FG%), lead a deep roster.
UCLA’s top-25-ranked offense runs through junior center Lauren Betts. The first-round prospect is averaging a career-best 21.5 ppg (ranking 23rd in DI) and 11.5 rpg (14). She’s one of the most efficient posts in the country, shooting 72.2%, a mark that currently ranks 25th but is eight percentage points better than last year when she finished 11th in DI. The Bruins are without quality minutes from junior guard Kiki Rice, who missed the first three games and played 11 minutes in her debut against Arkansas, and transfer Charlisse Leger-Walker, who has yet to play. Head coach Cori Close said she’s “expecting” Rice to play against South Carolina.
The plot: South Carolina’s program-best winning streak is at stake, and a loss would surely topple the Gamecocks from the No. 1 spot given No. 2 Connecticut’s talent and potential. They’ve had a clunky start as the favorites compared to last year when the young group of first-time NCAA starters surprised early. Facing the 6-7 Betts is their first major test of size for the forwards-by-committee in Kitts (6-2), Ashlyn Watkins (6-3) and No. 2-ranked recruit Joyce Edwards (6-3). The 6-5 Adhel Tac, an early enrollee in January 2024, is the star forward in waiting, but she is coming off an injury and played 14 total minutes this redshirt freshman season.
UCLA’s defense (32.3 opponent FG%) faces its first test attempting to stop all of South Carolina’s shooters. The Bruins have not been good at limiting opponents’ 3s, and when the Gamecocks can hit from there, it’s almost impossible to beat them. Timea Gardiner, a junior transfer from Oregon State, and freshman Elina Aarnisalo are threats from 3-point range to help them keep scoring pace.
