LOS ANGELES — The USC women’s basketball team celebrated senior day on Sunday, honoring five players who were instrumental in elevating a program from obscurity to national powerhouse.

Forward Kiki Iriafen, guard Talia von Oelhoffen, forward Rayah Marshall, Center Clarice Akunwafo and guard Dominique Darius each walked on the court accompanied by family members before the game at Galen Center. It was a moment to be toasted by the fans and coaching staff, none more so than Marshall who has been one of the cornerstones of the Trojans program for the past four years.

Marshall posted a double with 12 points, 13 rebounds, to go along with five assists and four steals in helping No. 4-ranked USC to a 76-66 victory Sunday over No. 25 Illinois.

“This is just what we call Juicy Rayah – 12 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, four steals – but she’s really the catalyst for getting us going,” Coach Lindsay Gottlieb said.

With the victory, USC will face No. 3 UCLA for the Big Ten regular-season title next week. The Trojans defeated the Bruins 10 days ago, knocking them out of the No. 1 spot and will be looking to avenge the stinging loss.

The Bruins, which beat Iowa on Sunday, are 26-1 overall, 14-1 in conference play; the Trojans are 25-2, 15-1.

It’s another moment in the Trojans climb from a sub-.500 team to the national stage, a move started in 2021 when then-new Coach Lindsay Gottlieb, who called Marshall to convince the center to stay with the program. Marshall listened and set aside any thoughts of transferring.

“This culture shift here and becoming a winning program was hard and I think it probably would’ve been easier (for Marshall) to be like, yeah, good luck coach. Do that on your own and I’m going to go somewhere else,” Gottlieb recalled. “Seriously, we had to get the right people on the bus, the people not wanting to be here off the bus and then that’s a process.

“(Marshall) has grown as a player. She’s grown as a human being. She had a generational talent walk in last year (JuJu Watkins) and she embraced her. Then we have a chance to get Kiki this year and she embraces her and all while she continues to improve herself and has her fingerprints all over making the program better. I think those are the things that are going to be as lasting as her blocks and her points.”

Watkins, the Trojans’ 6-2 superstar, shared the spotlight with her teammates Sunday, many of whom were playing their final regular-season home game.

While Watkins posted an impressive 22 points, five rebounds, three assists, one steal and four blocked shots, Iriafen was equally notable with 22 points, five rebounds, two assists, one steal and two blocked shots.

Marshall, from Lynwood High, said she could remember a time when there were few remarkable moments in her freshman season when the Trojans finished 12-16.

“I remember my freshman year we would come in and the games literally looked like a closed scrimmage and to now, I mean it’s just really been a culture shift. We bring in Coach G and her staff, they do a good job recruiting, not just great players, but set the jersey aside and really good humans like Kiki, too.”

The Trojans’ commanding finish Sunday – they opened a 13-point lead late in the game – didn’t tell the whole story. For the second consecutive game, the Trojans needed to overcome mistakes and flaws to come out ahead.

The Trojans missed their first 14 shots over the latter part of the second quarter and early third quarter, an unusual in-game slump for a team averaging 82.2 points. The Illini didn’t waste that opportunity and used the lapse to tie the game at 40 points apiece at the 7:42 mark.

“Illinois is a really good team,” Gottlieb said. “They’re a Top 25 team. We knew they would come here with a lot of fight, and they did. I thought the difference was our energy level, led by Kiki and Rayah. We really just kind of turned up our juice and that’s what gets everyone going.”

Marshall kicked-started the Trojans’ stagnant offense with back-to-back layups, the second off a steal, to pull USC ahead 45-42. Watkins followed immediately with a basket for a 47-42 lead.

By the end of the third quarter, USC held a comfortable 57-47 advantage.

“We have such athleticism and sometimes when we just need to change the pace (and) it starts with our full-court press and then the players do all the effort,” Gottlieb said. “And I thought that got us going.”

The Trojans got off to a quick start opening a nine-point lead late in the first quarter. Watkins drove the lane to cap a 11-1 run for a 24-15 cushion. But the moment was fleeting and by the end of the first half, the Trojans were fighting to hold off the Illini and held a slim 40-36 lead.

Watkins stole the ball and drove in for a layup to cap a 9-4 run and help USC turn a 26-22 lead at the end of the first to a 37-26 lead with 5:46 left. After the Illini scored, Watkins scored another layup off an assist by von Oelhoffen.

Illinois adjusted midway through the second quarter, clamping down inside and forcing the Trojans to shoot from outside, where they struggled. The Trojans connected on just 3 of 10 3-point attempts in the first half.

The Illini offense then went to work, outscoring USC 8-1 to pull within four points to close out the first half.

“I thought our team did a really good job of feeding off their (starters) energy today. And we got contributions from a lot of places,” Gottlieb said. “We can still be better. Illinois is good. We played into their hands at times, but I’m really pleased with getting a win for these guys on senior day and now every game moving forward is a championship-type game. So, the stakes get higher. That’s going to be fun.”