The USC Trojans entered the season fully aware they’d be without their superstar JuJu Watkins, but that didn’t slow down the buzz in California. The biggest credit for that goes to coach Lindsay Gottlieb. Even without her talisman, she’s kept USC competitive, and in the process, she reached a special milestone of her own.

Head coach Lindsay Gottlieb reached a huge milestone on Sunday night, picking up her 100th win at USC, and she did it against an unbeaten ranked team. She became the fastest coach in program history to hit the mark after the Trojans opened Big Ten play with a gritty 59–50 win over the No. 21 Washington Huskies. And as you would expect, the celebrations were wild!

The players didn’t let the moment pass quietly. They crashed coach Gottlieb’s postgame interview to celebrate the milestone in style. She had just started answering a question about Jazzy Davidson’s role in the win when the entire team stormed in, completely surrounding her. Confetti flew everywhere, and players held up signs that read “100” to mark the moment.

“OK, I like this confetti,” Lindsay Gottlieb said, smiling through all the chaos. “I don’t even know what you asked, but this is awesome.” She then continued, “This is a special place to get 100 wins here, people said they didn’t care about women’s basketball at USC. And now here we are. That’s great.”

The Trojans had lost their spot among the elite programs since the ’90s. But everything began to change when the two-time champions hired Lindsay Gottlieb in 2021. She has completely turned the program around since then. After a tough debut season, Gottlieb has never had a losing record at USC and has led the team to back-to-back Elite Eight appearances.

Last season could have been even better for the Trojans, but disaster struck at the worst possible time. During the Round of 32 game against Mississippi State, USC lost its National Player of the Year when JuJu Watkins tore her ACL. The Trojans looked primed for a Final Four run, especially after adding Kiki Iriafen from Stanford, but they ultimately fell short in the Elite Eight.

This season, almost no one expects the Trojans to make a Final Four push without their best player. But Coach Gottlieb has kept the team competitive and steady, and with this win, she managed to push her record to 100–38 with the program. A huge reason for that has been the arrival of the top recruit in the 2025 class, Jazzy Davidson, who put up career numbers to help USC beat Washington.

But while she called Jazzy “awesome,” she made it clear she was just as proud of how the entire team played.

Lindsay Gottlieb proud of her Trojans

USC and Washington met tonight for the 77th time in series history, and the Trojans came out on top, pushing the all-time record to 40–38. But this win was anything but easy. Nothing was falling for USC in the first quarter, literally nothing. They were held scoreless for the first eight and a half minutes.

But Davidson, who started the game 0-for-5, quickly turned things around. She hit 10 of her next 16 shots and finished with a career-high double-double of 22 points and 12 rebounds. Kennedy Smith added 13 points on 40% shooting, helping the Trojans take control as they out-rebounded the Huskies in the paint, 50–38.

Gottlieb was especially proud of the defensive effort her team showed, even on a night when their shots just weren’t falling.

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“Really proud of the way we competed,” Gottlieb said in the post-game press conference. “Especially the first quarter. I know that sounds crazy, but to not score for eight and a half minutes and not lose our spirit and only be down by four says a lot about who we have become and are trying to become.”

The Trojans are off to a 7–2 start and are ranked 16th in the country. But this season won’t be easy. With nine Big Ten teams, including USC, sitting in the AP Top 25, the road ahead looks tough.

Beating Washington was a good sign, but whether they have the quality to take down the other top teams is still up in the air. Who knows, this could still be the season where they break through and reach the Final Four. But right now, that feels unlikely since they have already dropped games to two ranked teams.

What about you? Do you think Lindsay Gottlieb and co make a Final Four run without JuJu Watkins? Let us know in the comments below!