The loudest cheers Saturday for the USC women's basketball team didn't come as it was scoring 21 of the first 23 points in its NCAA tournament opener vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Not for any of the 14 blocked shots or 14 steals the Trojans delivered in a dominant defensive performance. Nor when star freshman JuJu Watkins scored seven straight points after the visitors had cut their deficit by more than half in the second quarter.
No, the fans inside Galen Center, who have established a steady and strong supportive following for these No. 1-seeded Trojans, erupted in the final minutes as fifth-year senior India Otto scooped in a layup and then drained a 3-pointer to close out USC's 87-55 win.
So did her teammates, for that matter.
"I was more excited for Otto. Those are the best points I've seen all season," Watkins said afterward, smiling wide while sitting next to her teammate in the postgame press conference. "I was more excited for her than the win. Well, no, I'm not going to say that. That's far. She deserves it, bro. We see her score every day in practice. So to see her come out and just, I don't know, she lit up the crowd tonight."
Otto had scored just 3 points and played only 7 minutes all season for the Trojans but is beloved by teammates -- and clearly, the fans -- and that moment at the end of a momentous afternoon for the program was symbolic in a number of ways.
There's an unmistakable togetherness and unity about this Trojans team, which earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1986 and now advances to the second round of the tournament -- to play No. 8-seeded Kansas on Monday -- for the first time since 2006.
There's also a palpable feeling that these Trojans are appreciating in the moment how special it is what they're doing in truly starting to connect the program back to its storied past after a quiet few decades.
"I think what I've talked with our team about, this is a unique situation that we're in in terms of I think we've played this whole year to kind of show people who we are and establish who we are. Now we're sitting with a 1 seed. What I've talked with them over these last 10 days about is keeping the joy that we have while also playing with a sense of urgency," coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. "I think that's what you saw in the Pac-12 tournament. I don't think we've played with the weight of the world on our shoulders. We have played like we have a lot of fun together and we love one another. But then with an urgency that we often are the toughest team out there, out-rebounding people.
"You can't just be loose and happy, you got to be loose and happy with legs behind it and how tough we're going to be. That's what we want to keep. When you do that, people throw around the term 'family', but it's these players every day showing up and buying in. Like I said, you can't fake how they feel about Otto. That's because Otto has been that person for the entire year every single day. I think that's when those real bonds and stuff come. I think it's a real strength of ours. It's not to say that other teams don't have it. I don't know. For us, we carry that as a confidence builder."
No one can appreciate how special this is more than Otto, the longest-tenured Trojan who predates Gottlieb's arrival by a couple of years.
"I think honestly words fall short to describe what that feeling meant to me. I literally got goose bumps after I hit that 3," Otto said. "Coming down, to hear the crowd ... I've been here for five years. My first year, no one was in the stands. Last year we went to Blacksburg and played, didn't make it past the first round. Incredible to make it past this round. You don't take those moments for granted. It was incredible. That is a core memory for me for sure. A culmination of everything I put into this program the last five years, it was really, really special."
It was a punctuation mark to an all-around superlative performance for the Trojans (27-5), who were led by 23 points each from Watkins and McKenzie Forbes while Rayah Marshall had 10 points and 11 rebounds and Kayla Padilla scored 10 points. Clarice Akunwafo had a team-high 5 blocks and Watkins had 4 swats as the Trojans' 14 total blocks were the second-most in program history.
Meanwhile, Watkins eclipsed Cheryl Miller's single-season USC scoring record -- now up to 833 points -- to continue adding to her fantastic freshman resume.
Watkins said she was unaware of the record after the game.
"I wasn't even aware that happened. I'm just grateful, honestly," she said. "Coach has so much trust in me. I'm grateful for that. My teammates have so much trust in me. I'm just grateful to be in that mention and to be part of the Trojan legacy."
Miller was in attendance to watch and Watkins was asked afterward about the connection she's built with the Trojans legend.
"As far as advice that I've gotten from G.O.A.T., she trusts in my mentality. I think we're similar in some ways as far as just the competitiveness to want to win. She's just always encouraged me, encouraged me never to lose that," Watkins said. "I'm just here trying to compete with my team."
Gottlieb was asked afterward what she would say when someone calls Watkins a generational talent ...
"You'd be crazy if you didn't call her that. I haven't been afraid to talk about how good we think JuJu is, especially with what's going on in real-time here," Gottlieb said. "When you guys said she broke the single-season scoring record, that's crazy for any freshman. At USC where the woman she surpasses is literally the best basketball player of all time. ... I just think we're watching something really spectacular happen with JuJu. I was on some call the other day where I said, we can analyze stats, we can analyze turnovers, shooting efficiency, what have you, but to look at the overarching thing of the impact she's had on a program, she makes others around her better.
"Not with just she has attention, she kicks for a 3 for somebody else, but ... I believe there's a greater confidence in our locker room all the time 'cause the way JuJu carries herself. There's a striving for excellence. Whether she says it or not, she impacts those around her who want to achieve greatness. We have other terrific players. We would not be here without India, Kenzie Forbes, I could go on and on. In terms of the impact she's had on this program, I don't know if there's a player that's had it in their freshman year on a program like ever. So I think we can recognize that."
After Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (23-9) scored the opening points Saturday, Watkins drained a 3-pointer on her first shot, she and Kaitlyn Davis blocked shots on the Islanders' next possession, Forbes hit a 3, Watkins turned a turnover into a quick layup and the Trojans never looked back.
Marshall's layup with 7 seconds left in the first quarter pushed the lead to 21-2 before Texas A&M-Corpus Christi finally scored its second basket to close out the period.
The Islanders did make a push to get back into the game with an 11-2 run early in the second quarter, cutting the USC lead to 24-15, but Forbes started a 9-0 Trojans run with a floater while Watkins provided the next seven points. The game was never closer than 13 points the rest of the way with the Trojans' lead ballooning over the final two quarters.
The announced crowd of 8,386 loved every bit of it -- right to the very end.
"I'm enamored by the crowd. We never take it for granted how this community has come out for us, for this team. The change that's happened so rapidly, it's so amazing," Gottlieb said. "The feeling of the building puts me at ease 'cause then it's just our team playing a game. You get into the moment."
Saturday was a special one for these Trojans -- just the latest in a growing collection of mounting highlights with the chance to make another Monday night (7 p.m. PT) inside Galen Center as USC vies for its first Sweet 16 appearance since 1994.
