Southern California has clinched its first regular season conference championship in 31 years and now sets its sights on the upcoming Big Ten tournament. The second-ranked Trojans anticipate a challenging tournament ahead.
USC’s head coach, Lindsay Gottlieb, commented on the difficulty of the task, stating, “The Big Ten tournament is three games in three days against NCAA Tournament quality teams. So it will be a challenge and there’s no rest in between games.” The Trojans enter the tournament on the heels of a victory against their rival and fourth-ranked UCLA on Saturday, securing their regular season title. “Hopefully we’re peaking at the right time,” added Gottlieb. “We’re in a great place.” USC is set to play on Friday, facing the winner of the Oregon-Indiana game.
The Big Ten is among the major conferences holding tournaments this week. In other conferences, No. 5 South Carolina emerged as the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament after winning a coin flip against top-ranked Texas, finishing tied atop the standings. N.C. State leads the ACC, while No. 6 Notre Dame takes the second seed. No. 8 TCU claimed victory over No. 17 Baylor on Sunday, winning the Big 12 crown and securing the top seed in that tournament.
While many of these teams are already assured of NCAA Tournament berths, this weekend serves as a crucial opportunity for teams on the bubble to secure impressive wins.
In a noteworthy achievement, Columbia players Kitty Henderson and Cecilia Collins both recorded triple-doubles last weekend, a rare feat in back-to-back games. Henderson achieved this against Brown last Friday, followed by Collins achieving the same against Yale within 24 hours. According to Stats Perform, this is only the second time two different players from the same school have had triple-doubles in consecutive games, with the first instance occurring at Jackson State in 2003. Columbia has the potential to make history if another player achieves a triple-double this Saturday when the Lions play against Cornell in their regular season finale, aiming for their first outright Ivy League championship after sharing the title for two consecutive seasons.
These were the second and third triple-doubles in Columbia’s history. Henderson posted an impressive stat line with 19 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists, four steals, and just one turnover. The only other player in the past quarter-century to achieve such statistics in a game was Kaitlyn Davis, a former Columbia teammate, who recorded the school’s first-ever triple-double.
As for the NCAA’s weekly NET rankings, which play a significant role in deciding the NCAA Tournament bracket, the top ten remain unchanged. UConn maintains the No. 1 position, followed by South Carolina, Texas, Notre Dame, and UCLA. Southern California, which holds second in this week’s poll, sits in sixth place.
