No. 6 Notre Dame pens 'complete game' in upset of No. 3 USC - ESPN

LOS ANGELES — The women's basketball universe coalesced in Los Angeles this weekend, with No. 3 USC and No. 4 UCLA hosting top-six opponents on back-to-back days heading into Thanksgiving.

But in the first of the two potential Final Four previews, the visiting No. 6 Notre Dame Fighting Irish played spoiler to a crowd of 7,894 at Galen Center, defeating the Trojans 74-61 to hand USC its first loss of the season.

The Irish led wire to wire and had USC fans heading for the exits with 4:48 left after using a 16-2 run at the start of the fourth to jump ahead 21.

It was Notre Dame's first double-digit road win over an Associated Press top-five opponent since February 2014.

«This group, they're special,» said Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey, who felt her team played a «complete game.» «I'm so grateful to be able to lead them, and just really proud of the way that we've been resilient.»

«This was just an early opportunity to show what we can do, and I think that we did that,» guard Sonia Citron said. «I think we're one of the best teams in the country.»

The defeat was USC's first nonconference home loss since December 2021 during coach Lindsay Gottlieb's first season at the helm.

«I just told the team in there, you don't schedule this game because you think anything's going to be a 40-point win. You schedule it because you have an opportunity to have a great crowd and play well and give yourself an early-season signature win, or you get exposed,» Gottlieb said. «Given the fact it's option two, our only choice is to be exposed, stay together and get better.»

A star-studded battle between a slew of intriguing WNBA prospects — from USC's JuJu Watkins and Kiki Iriafen to Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles — drew scores of