Ohio State at USC women’s basketball: How to watch JuJu Watkins face Cotie McMahon
USC has two of the brightest stars in the sport: JuJu Watkins and Kiki Iriafen. Ohio State boasts three players averaging more than 14 points a game. With the Buckeyes at 9-2 in the Big Ten and the Trojans at 10-1, Saturday’s top-10 matchup has a lot at stake and a lot of potential.
How to watch No. 8 Ohio State at No. 7 USC
Venue: Galen Center — Los Angeles
Time: 9 p.m. ET Saturday
TV: FOX
Streaming: Fubo (try for free)
Watching in-person? Get tickets on StubHub
The visitors (20-2), coached by Kevin McGuff, win in the paint and force takeaways. Junior Cotie McMahon, who made the midseason Wooden Award watch list, is a skilled slasher with a swift first step:
Cotie on the drive 😤
She’s got 19 points tonight ‼️ pic.twitter.com/SIpDHabp2Q
— Ohio State Women’s Basketball (@OhioStateWBB) February 2, 2025
Ohio State’s Chance Gray, who transferred from Oregon, is the team’s best high-volume 3-point shooter. She’s been great on the road — five made 3s at Wisconsin, four at both Michigan and Penn State — but just 1-for-16 on the long ball in her last four games. Freshman Jaloni Cambridge has been inefficient but fearless to start her collegiate career. The five-star recruit had 21 points at No. 1 UCLA, though it took her 20 shots to get there.
Ohio State racks up steals and does not give away possessions. That’s a tough draw for 20-2 USC, which had 18 turnovers in its loss to Iowa and 21 in the defeat to Notre Dame. Despite the giveaways, these Trojans have two certified buckets to play through. Watkins has improved her shooting percentage and 3-point rate from her All-American freshman effort. She had one of the best games in all of college basketball against Penn State last month — 35 points on 13-of-15 shooting, adding five steals and three blocks. But she’s down to an uncharacteristic 35 percent from the floor in her last five.
Iriafen has been a great running mate since her transfer from Stanford. ’s Sabreena Merchant has her going No. 5 to the newly-formed Golden State Valkyries in this spring’s WNBA Draft:
“The Valkyries didn’t get the star power they hoped for during free agency, but they could strike gold in the draft. Kiki Iriafen was projected to go as high as No. 2 early this season, and though her draft stock has cooled, she is still a high-motor, athletic forward who has a nice face-up game, can finish through contact, and can switch defensively. She also is an excellent offensive rebounder. There is a bit of a local angle with Iriafen, who spent three years at Stanford, just about an hour away from the Chase Center.”
While both trail top-ranked UCLA, these are two of the best programs in the country. Each still has a shot at the Big Ten title. Ohio State has played just twice since Jan. 26; USC has been on the road for four of its last five.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
USC Trojans, Ohio State Buckeyes, Women's College Basketball, Sports Betting
2025 The Athletic Media Company
