After starting the season with three straight commanding wins, Notre Dame suffered a devastating 93-54 loss to No. 6 Michigan last weekend. After a few days off, the next matchup will be another ranked battle as the Irish welcome the No. 11 USC Trojans to South Bend Friday.
Following the loss to the Wolverines, the Irish dropped from No. 18 in the AP poll to No. 24. A win against the Trojans would be important, not only to get back in the win column, but also to remain firmly within the top 25. It would help to build momentum before the team opens Atlantic Coast Conference play against Florida State in early December.
Since 1999, Notre Dame and USC have faced each other nine times. The Irish were victorious in eight of those games. In last season’s matchup, the Trojans suffered a 74-61 defeat at home to the Irish. Notre Dame will have an opportunity to extend their two-game series winning streak on Friday.
So far this season, USC is 3-1, its only loss coming to No. 2 South Carolina. Against the other ranked opponent they faced this season, No. 9 NC State, the Trojans escaped with a one-point win. Overall, they have an average scoring margin of 12.5 and two wins by more than 30 points. Last season, the Trojans advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, being eliminated by the eventual champion. They have built on last year’s success with a competitive start to this season.
The top-scoring Trojan is standout freshman guard Jazzy Davidson. Davidson has averaged 15.5 points per game and has led her team in assists, blocks and steals to start her freshman campaign. Even as the top prospect in ESPN’s 2025 class, she has surpassed expectations, playing a key role in a Trojan guard rotation that is without the reigning Naismith Women’s College Player of the Year, JuJu Watkins. After suffering an injury in last year’s tournament, Watkins is set to miss the 2025 season with a torn ACL. Her injury was a seismic blow to the team’s title hopes, but players like Davidson have kept the team in championship conversations.
In addition to Davidson, two more Trojans have averaged double-digit points: senior guard Londynn Jones and sophomore guard Kennedy Smith. USC’s guards will be facing off with a Notre Dame guard rotation that is headlined by Hannah Hidalgo. In her junior year, the star guard is the nation’s top scorer, averaging 28.8 points per game. She also leads the nation in steals, with 6.5 per game.
Notre Dame has been elite at forcing turnovers. The 26.5 forced per game is the 13th most of any team in the country. Against Akron, the Irish had 30 steals, the second most in program history. In this game, Hidalgo broke an NCAA Division 1 record with an absurd 16 steals of her own. USC, on the other hand, has been able to limit its turnovers, coughing it up only 12 times a game, one of the lowest averages in the nation. The turnover battle will be crucial in directing the flow of the game.
The ranked matchup between the Irish and Trojans will tip off at 6 p.m. on Friday in Purcell Pavilion.
