USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb often reminds the media how historic of a career JuJu Watkins is in the midst of having with the Trojans now into her sophomore season. She did so again Saturday night after USC knocked off UCLA to claim the Big Ten regular season title in the team's first year in its new conference.

Watkins was a big part of that 80-67 victory in front of a sold out crowd at Pauly Pavilion as she scored a game-high 30 points to help the Trojans secure their first conference regular season crown since 1994.

Tuesday, the No. 2 leading scorer in the country and top scorer in the league was rewarded with the Big Ten Player of the Year honor as Watkins added to what will surely be a busy month of awards for the Trojans' star.

The Los Angeles native is the first USC player to earn a conference player of the year award since Cherie Nelson in 1988.

Waktins tied Nelson's record for most 30-point games in a season Saturday with her 20th such performance in the win over the Bruins. She enters the postseason averaging 24.4 points as her scoring has again taken centerstage this year, but it is her performance on the defensive end of the floor that has helped the Trojans secure the top seed entering the Big Ten Tournament.

Watkins accounted for eight blocks in USC's first victory over UCLA back in mid-February and had three more in Saturday's victory. She is currently tied for fourth among Big Ten players in both blocks and steals as well.

The second-year guard has already been named the National Player of the Year by The Athletic and is on the watch lists or is a finalist for several national awards including the Ann Meyers Drysdale award, which she won last season.

Watkins took home the Big Ten Player of the Week honor seven times during the season including the final award of the regular season.

"I think what doesn't get talked about with JuJu enough is the amount of just attention she gets from scrutiny and positive, it's a lot," Gottlieb said. "But, her ability to focus and say, 'What do I need to do to for me to be at my best and for the team to win?' Those are mental aspects."

Aided by her star player, Gottlieb has put together an outstanding season from the bench and it earned her the Big Ten Coach of the Year award on Tuesday. Acquiring talent is one thing, but making it all work together is another and the Trojans entered the season with talented pieces but also with some unproven young pieces to go alongside the stars such as Watkins and Kiki Iriafen.

Gottlieb has managed to position her team for a deep run in the NCAA Tournament with a likely No. 1 seed attached to the group as well following the Trojans' run to a Big Ten regular season title. She is the first USC head coach to win the top conference award since Marianne Stanley did so in the then Pac-10 Conference in 1993.

The fourth-year head coach has guided USC to 26 victories already this year, including two wins over UCLA. The Trojans also knocked off nine ranked opponents and went 4-1 against teams inside the top 10 of the AP Top 25 poll this season.

Defense has become a hallmark of the team, and USC enters postseason play as the Division I leader with 7.1 blocks per game and is the only team to have collected 200 blocks as a group in the regular season. The Trojans rank among the top 30 in steals as well.

In addition to being named the Big Ten Player of the Year, Watkins led a group of five players to earn other conference honors Tuesday. The USC star was also named a member of the All-Big Ten First Team and Big Ten All-Defensive Team on Tuesday for her performances leading to the conference regular season title.

Iriafen, who transferred from Stanford, has been as advertised for the Trojans this season as a running mate alongside Watkins. The 6-foot-3 Los Angeles native is averaging 18.1 points and 8.3 rebounds for the Trojans and has logged nine double-doubles through 28 games.

Like Watkins, Iriafen was a unanimous selection for the All-Big Ten First Team.

Joining that duo is center Rayah Marshall, guard Kennedy Smith and guard Malia Samuels in earning conference honors. Marshall and Smith earned All-Big Ten honorable mention nods while Marshall was also named to the all-defensive team alongside Watkins.

Marshall, who shined in the Trojans' win over UCLA on Saturday, is leading the team with 8.6 rebounds and 2.07 blocks this season.

Smith, another talented defensive player, was also named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team following a stellar debut season for the Trojans. The Chino native is averaging 10 points for USC this season and is second on the team with 2.1steals per game.

Samuels earned a spot as USC's Big Ten Sportsmanship Honoree on Tuesday.

The Big Ten Tournament gets underway on Wednesday but the Trojans will not see the floor for the first time in Indianapolis until Friday after receiving a double bye as the top overall seed. USC will square off with either eighth-seeded Oregon or ninth-seeded Indiana in its first Big Ten Tournament matchup.