How bout them Trojans? USC women’s basketball improved to 9-0 earlier this week, and is just one win away from “equaling the best start in school history,” according Rick Nixon over at NCAA.com. Should the team reach 10-0, they would tie the opening record set by the 1984-85 squad. Those Trojans finished the season with a 21-9 overall record (10-4 in conference play) en route to a 75-72 loss to Long Beach State in the NCAA West Regional … OK, so the last part isn’t exactly great news, but at least they had that amazing record to start the season.
This year, the Trojans have sliced through opponents like a lightsaber through… well… anything. They vanquished Hope International 92-43, blasted BR-164 Santa Clara 81-46 and destroyed BR-277 Grand Canyon 75-44. BR-44 West Virginia put up a good fight and even sent the game into OT, but BR-42 USC ultimately beat them 78-67 thanks to 20-point outings from Temi Fagbenie (who also collected 14 rebounds) and Courtney Jaco.
The team squeezed by BR-41 Gonzaga 60-56, then outscored its next four opponents — BR-183 Iona, BR-284 Southern Utah, BR-199 UNLV and BR-107 Long Beach State — by a combined 289-173. The Trojans next play BR-341 Florida A&M Friday night at 6:00 PM PT.
Of course, USC isn’t the only team currently sitting on an undefeated record. All but three BR Top 10 teams are sitting on perfect seasons (as are a handful of lower-ranked squads):
Reigning champ BR-1 Connecticut is 8-0 (as expected) with big wins over BR-12 Ohio State and BR-25 Nebraska.
BR-2 Maryland leads the league in scoring (89 ppg) and holds a 10-0 record heading into the weekend, though their toughest opponent to date has been Syracuse — the team plays the Huskies on Dec. 28, so keep an eye out for that one.
BR-3 Kentucky sits at 9-0 after defeating the likes of Arizona State and Louisville, while BR-5 Baylor (9-0), BR-6 South Carolina (8-0), BR-7 Texas (8-0) and BR-8 Oregon State (7-0) round out the top ranked teams with perfect records.
Naturally, a perfect record doth not a great team make. I wouldn’t rank USC higher than, say, BR-4 Notre Dame, who lost to Connecticut on Dec. 5, but still boast an 8-1 start. But as we saw with the Golden State Warriors, people are nuts for perfection and winning streaks … and here we are.
Other teams with perfect records: BR-15 Northwestern (9-0), BR-27 Oklahoma State (7-0), BR-34 Miami (10-0) and BR-38 Missouri (10-0).
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