LOS ANGELES — They trickled in for this Saturday afternoon matinee, the Los Angeles commonfolk and the basketball elite alike, ready for a thunderous encore. Some were here to pay witness to Year Two of the JuJu Watkins Era, rapper Saweetie and program legend Cheryl Miller and WNBA mogul Chiney Ogwumike all perched in courtside seats. Some were here to scout, with Dallas Wings general manager and former Sparks head coach Curt Miller watching patiently for a glimpse of top WNBA prospect Kiki Iriafen. Some were here for a special sentimentality, with Iriafen’s grandparents sitting a few rows up from Miller, visiting the other side of the world from Nigeria for their first time seeing their granddaughter play collegiate basketball. They all, ultimately, expected a show. This was no longer the crowd of a scrappy underdog, the program that captivated Los Angeles a season ago. This was the crowd of a powerhouse, advancing expectations, a pregame hype video on the JumboTron emphasizing the lofty national ranking for fourth-year head coach Lindsay Gottlieb’s program. And they all, ultimately, could’ve left about 10 minutes in, USC running an overmatched Cal Poly program out of the gym from the tip in their home opener to a 90-35 drubbing. “Challenged our players to come out and play with a ton of energy, and heart, and show these fans what we think we can be this year,” Gottlieb said later Saturday. “And I thought we did that.” The year kicked off with a somewhat-sloppy start amid the sparkle of Paris, eking out a turnover-laden 68-66 win over 20th-ranked Ole Miss on Monday. On Thursday, back home at Galen, Gottlieb noted the opener had “exposed some flaws,” emphasizing there simply wasn’t an excuse for her program’s 26 turnovers. “I think,” Gottlieb said, “we’re still figuring one another out a little bit.” They still are, certainly, a roster loaded with new talent and freshman faces. But synapses began to fuse together, from the tip, on Saturday afternoon. After a pull-up jumper by Cal Poly’s Annika Shah a couple of minutes in, the Trojans (2-0) promptly embarked on a ridiculous 28-0 run, Gottlieb and USC bullying with a full-court press that turned into a quarter-long hunt for the Mustangs’ lunch money. “Nobody’s winning a national championship on November – what is it, eighth? Whatever it is today,” Gottlieb said postgame. “Nobody’s getting — we can’t skip steps and fast-forward to another Elite Eight game … but what we can do is continue to push forward our identity Center Rayah Marshall, the local Lynwood High product who’d stuck it out and sacrificed through four years of Gottlieb’s rebuild, authored a shining first-quarter moment with a layup for the 1,000th point of her career. Watkins, who hit the gas a little too hard at times in a nine-turnover debut against Ole Miss, operated with poise early in the post to draw contact. Freshman guard Kayleigh Heckel, proving herself a crucial sparkplug off the bench to USC’s 2024-25 hopes, flitted around the hardwood and wreaked havoc in the early minutes. The result was a 40-6 advantage after one quarter – the highest-scoring frame in program history, according to USC, since the NCAA switched to 10-minute quarters before the 2015-16 season. Related Articles College Sports | Saint Thomas propels USC men’s basketball to win over Idaho State College Sports | USC’s new $200 million football facility comes with a Lincoln Riley promise College Sports | Now USC’s QB1, Jayden Maiava promises to lay his ‘life on the line’ for teammates College Sports | Swanson: Can USC, UCLA women’s basketball teams top last season? Pressure’s on College Sports | Inside USC’s switch at QB from Miller Moss to Jayden Maiava Heckel continued to give USC a lift in the second quarter, fighting through contact for an and-one layup to give USC a 57-17 lead heading into the break, the program course-correcting with just three first-half turnovers while forcing 15. Floor-spacing continued to be a slight concern on Saturday, with USC finishing just 6 of 28 from deep after a 1-for-9 showing against Ole Miss. But bigs Iriafen, Marshall and others turned jumpers off-iron into interior dominance, the Trojans racking up 20 offensive boards in an end-to-end drubbing of a much smaller Cal Poly (1-1) program. Heckel scored 16, Watkins had 16 with four blocks, and Marshall added 15. Sophomore Malia Samuels shone in the second half with a career-high 12 points and three 3-pointers. And the first encore ended in raucous applause. “It’s a new season,” Gottlieb said postgame. “But we want to build from that.”