LOS ANGELES — USC will try to advance to the women's Sweet 16 Monday evening when it faces Mississippi State in a Regional 4 second-round game, playing for the final time in the 2024-25 season at the Galen Center.

What You Need To Know

  • USC (29-3) is seeded first in the region and fourth in the 68-team field

  • The Trojans opened play in the tournament by allowing a school record-low 25 points in a 71-25 victory over 16th-seeded UNC Greensboro Saturday

  • Oddsmakers have made USC a 16 1/2-point to 17-point favorite

  • The winner will advance to play fifth-seeded Kansas State, an 80-79 overtime winner over fourth-seeded Kentucky Sunday, in a Sweet 16 game Saturday in Spokane, Washington

"There's just an unmatched energy," Trojans coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. "I think you have to be here and experience it to really understand it's different than other people's crowds, and I'm really grateful for it. And I'm really proud of how we've built it and how LA and the community that's shown up.

"I think we are very much the community's team here, and it's cool to just be a part of that. And I'm hoping that it's a big factor on Monday night because we need a great crowd and I know they will show up for us."

USC (29-3) is seeded first in the region and fourth in the 68-team field. The Trojans opened play in the tournament by allowing a school record-low 25 points in a 71-25 victory over 16th-seeded UNC Greensboro Saturday. The 46-point margin of victory was the largest in a NCAA tournament game in program history.

"We got to have our best offensive execution," Mississippi State coach Sam Purcell said. "We can't turn the ball over. We got to have people when we have open shots knock it down in order to try to beat a team that nobody believes the Bulldogs are going to beat in every single bracket."

Oddsmakers have made USC a 16 1/2-point to 17-point favorite.

Purcell referred to his team as a "speed bump that happens to be here," threatening a potential USC-Connecticut meeting in the Elite 8 in a rematch of the Huskies' 80-73 victory over the Trojans in last year's Elite 8.

Mississippi State (22-11) advanced to the second round with a 59-46 victory over eighth-seeded California Saturday. The 46 points allowed matched the fewest allowed by the Bulldogs in their 38 NCAA tournament games.

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Mississippi State is seeded ninth in the region and  36th overall. The Bulldogs finished 10th in the 16-team Southeastern Conference with a 7-9 record in conference play and lost in the second round of the conference tournament to Ole Miss, 85-73.

Mississippi State is led by guard Jerkaila Jordan, a graduate student, a two-time second-team All-SEC selection who leads the team in scoring, averaging 15.9 points per game.

The Bulldogs' roster includes guard Denim DeShields, a daughter of Delino DeShields, a second baseman with the Dodgers from 1994-96. DeShields is second on team in assists, averaging 3.2 per game, and has started every game.

The 7 p.m. game will be televised by ESPN.

The winner will advance to play fifth-seeded Kansas State, an 80-79 overtime winner over fourth-seeded Kentucky Sunday, in a Sweet 16 game Saturday in Spokane, Washington.