Last Updated on May 30, 2026 by Mat Diekhake

USC women’s basketball has real heavyweight history, not just one or two famous names. The program won national titles in 1983 and 1984, reached the title game again in 1986, and produced a run of stars who helped shape women’s basketball at both the college and pro levels. That is why this list is not just about statistics. It is about peak dominance, championships, long-term impact and how much each player changed the program’s identity. (USC Athletics)

1. Cheryl Miller

  • Years at USC: 1982–1986
  • Position: Forward
  • Notable achievements:
    • Two-time NCAA champion
    • Two-time NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player
    • USC career scoring leader
    • One of the most important players in women’s basketball history

Cheryl Miller has to be first because USC women’s basketball does not become USC women’s basketball without her. She arrived and immediately turned a great situation into a national power, leading the Trojans to back-to-back NCAA titles in 1983 and 1984. The record book still places her at 3,018 career points, which tells you how overwhelming she was, but the bigger point is that she made USC feel larger than college basketball. When a player is the face of the program’s greatest era and still sits at the top of the all-time scoring list decades later, there is no serious argument against her being No. 1. (USC Athletics)

2. Lisa Leslie

  • Years at USC: 1990–1994
  • Position: Center
  • Notable achievements:
    • National Player of the Year
    • Naismith Award winner
    • USC jersey retired
    • One of the greatest post players in program history

Lisa Leslie is one of those players whose résumé already sounds legendary before you even start comparing eras. She made an immediate impact at USC, won National and Pac-10 Freshman of the Year honors, later became the program’s fourth Naismith Award winner, and finished as one of the school’s all-time leaders in points and rebounds. She also helped keep USC nationally relevant after the Miller era, which matters a lot here. Leslie’s case is built on star power, production and the fact that she remained one of the clearest examples of USC turning elite recruits into true basketball icons. (USC Athletics)

3. Cynthia Cooper

  • Years at USC: 1982–1986
  • Position: Guard
  • Notable achievements:
    • Two-time NCAA champion
    • USC jersey retired
    • Key guard on the best teams in school history
    • Basketball Hall of Fame member

Cynthia Cooper belongs this high because she was not a side character on USC’s championship teams. She was one of the core pieces of the 1983 and 1984 title runs, alongside Cheryl Miller and the McGee twins, and later became one of the biggest names the sport has ever produced. Even if some fans know her best for what came later, her USC legacy stands on its own. When your number is retired and your college years were tied directly to the greatest stretch the program has ever had, you are firmly in the top tier of Women of Troy history. (USC Athletics)

4. Tina Thompson

  • Years at USC: 1993–1997
  • Position: Forward
  • Notable achievements:
    • USC jersey retired
    • First-ever WNBA draft pick
    • Freshman of the Year in the Pac-10
    • One of the biggest stars of USC’s post-title era

Tina Thompson sits this high because she gave USC another marquee superstar in the 1990s and then carried that prestige straight into the launch of the WNBA. USC officially notes that her jersey became the sixth retired in program history, which tells you the level of respect she commands in Troy. She was not just a big-name recruit who later became famous. She was a major college star first, and her standing as the first draft pick in WNBA history only deepened the weight of her USC career. (USC Athletics)

5. Paula McGee

  • Years at USC: 1981–1984
  • Position: Forward/Center
  • Notable achievements:
    • Two-time NCAA champion
    • USC jersey retired
    • Fourth on USC’s all-time scoring list
    • Dominant frontcourt force on title teams

Paula McGee has one of the strongest cases on the whole list because she was a foundational star on the teams that put USC women’s basketball on the national map. USC’s own tribute notes that she set the program’s freshman scoring record by averaging 20 points per game, and she still ranks fourth all-time in career scoring at Troy. That is elite production on top of championship value. She sometimes gets overshadowed because of the bigger names around her, but that is more about USC’s absurd talent level in that era than anything missing from her résumé. (USC Athletics)

6. Pam McGee

  • Years at USC: 1981–1984
  • Position: Center
  • Notable achievements:
    • Two-time NCAA champion
    • USC jersey retired
    • Part of USC’s legendary twin towers pairing
    • One of the defining interior players in school history

Pam McGee belongs right beside her sister because USC’s early-1980s dominance was built on that powerful frontcourt as much as anything else. The McGee twins helped turn the Trojans into champions, and both were important enough to have their jerseys retired by the school. Pam’s legacy is tied to winning first, which is never a bad thing on a legends list. She may not always get discussed as much as Cheryl Miller, but championship teams of that level do not happen without elite size, presence and consistency in the middle, and Pam brought all of that. (USC Athletics)

7. Cherie Nelson

  • Years at USC: 1985–1989
  • Position: Forward
  • Notable achievements:
    • 1988 Pac-10 Player of the Year
    • No. 2 all-time scorer at USC
    • One of the program’s best rebounders
    • Major star of the late-1980s era

Cherie Nelson is the kind of USC legend who deserves more national attention than she usually gets. USC’s official material notes that she was named Pac-10 Player of the Year in 1988 after leading the league in scoring and rebounding, and the school has also highlighted that she remains No. 2 all-time at USC in scoring. That is serious territory. She did not have the benefit of playing on the same title teams as some of the players above her, but individually she has one of the strongest statistical and award-based cases in school history. (USC Athletics)

8. JuJu Watkins

  • Years at USC: 2023–present
  • Position: Guard
  • Notable achievements:
    • National Freshman of the Year
    • First-team All-American
    • USC single-season scoring record holder
    • Face of USC’s modern revival

JuJu Watkins is already on this list because the impact has been too big to ignore. USC’s official releases note that she became one of the program’s first-team All-Americans, set USC scoring records as a freshman, and quickly climbed the school’s all-time scoring ladder by her sophomore season. Usually I would be careful about placing a current player this high, but Watkins has already changed the national perception of the program and pushed USC back into the center of the sport. She still has work to do if she wants to rise even further, but her legend status is already real. (USC Athletics)

9. Rhonda Windham

  • Years at USC: 1983–1987
  • Position: Guard
  • Notable achievements:
    • Two-time NCAA champion
    • NCAA Final Four assists record in a semifinal
    • One of the great playmakers in USC history
    • Important backcourt engine of the title era

Rhonda Windham may not be the first name casual fans mention, but serious USC history always brings her into the conversation. In USC’s official championship history, she is credited with setting an NCAA Final Four record with 16 assists in the 1983 semifinal, which says plenty about the kind of floor leader she was. Great teams need stars, but they also need players who make the entire machine work, and Windham absolutely did that. She was central to the most important years the program has ever had, which earns her a place in the top 10. (USC Athletics)

10. Briana Gilbreath

  • Years at USC: 2008–2012
  • Position: Guard
  • Notable achievements:
    • Pac-10 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year
    • USC’s first AP All-American since 1997
    • Elite two-way producer
    • Major figure in USC’s pre-revival years

Briana Gilbreath rounds out the top 10 because she carried a lot of weight for USC during a period when the program was trying to climb back toward national relevance. USC noted that she became the first Trojan since 1997 to earn AP All-America recognition, and her career totals place her high in multiple categories, including points, rebounds, steals and blocks. That all-around footprint matters. She was not part of a championship era, but she was a genuine star and one of the strongest modern-era players USC had before the current resurgence. (USC Athletics)

Honorable mentions

  • Ashley Corral
  • Jacki Gemelos
  • Nicky McCrimmon
  • Michelle Campbell

Ashley Corral deserves a real nod because USC identified her as the program’s all-time leader in three-pointers made, while Jacki Gemelos was good enough to become part of USC’s rare two-player WNBA draft class in 2012. Nicky McCrimmon and Michelle Campbell also helped extend USC’s presence into the pro game and remain important names in program history. (USC Athletics)

Sources:

USC Trojans — USC Trojans Women’s Basketball History & Archive (USC Athletics)
USC Trojans — USC Women’s Basketball National Champions (USC Athletics)
USC Trojans — USC Women’s Basketball Record Book (USC Athletics)
USC Trojans — Tina Thompson’s Jersey Retirement Ceremony To Be Held Saturday At Galen Center (USC Athletics)
USC Trojans — Women of Troy Retiring McGee Sisters’ Jerseys (USC Athletics)
USC Trojans — McGee Sisters Honored (USC Athletics)
USC Trojans — Trojan Great Cherie Nelson Is Making An Impact In LA (USC Athletics)
USC Trojans — JuJu Watkins Becomes Sixth USC Women’s Basketball Player Ever To Earn All-America First Team Honors (USC Athletics)
USC Trojans — JuJu Watkins Is WBCA’s National Freshman of the Year (USC Athletics)
USC Trojans — JuJu Watkins Honored As 2024-25 Big Ten Female Athlete of the Year (USC Athletics)
USC Trojans — USC Women’s Basketball Takes No. 1 Seed In NCAA Tournament For Second Straight Year (USC Athletics)
USC Trojans — Five Women of Troy Win All-Pac-12 Honors (USC Athletics)
USC Trojans — USC’s Gemelos & Gilbreath Selected In 2012 WNBA Draft (USC Athletics)
Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame — Hall of Famers (The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame)