Good morning! The Women of Troy went and put a ring on it. Check out the flashy 2023 Pac-12 Championship rings from USC lacrosse’s conference title win.

What else can you find in today's edition of The Three Torches?

🏀 Watkins makes history
🏈 USC football rounds out its coaching staff with one last hire
⚔️ And much, much more!

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🔼 Record Breaker. She’s done it! Juju Watkins won her record-setting ninth Pac-12 Freshman of the Week award following her standout performance against No. 2 UCLA. Watkins delivered her sixth 30-point game as a Trojan and set a new USC record with a 16-of-16 effort from the free-throw line.

In addition to her clutch shooting from the stripe and game-high 32 points, Watkins secured her third double-double of the season after hauling in 10 rebounds for the Trojans. She also delivered three blocks, three assists and three steals to help USC to a 73-65 victory in the first-ever regular-season meeting between top-10 basketball teams at Galen Center.

🔼 Getting In Rhythm. The No. 7 USC men's tennis team picked up several wins after facing three different squads in the Collegiate Cup at the Sherwood Country Club. The Trojans saw the most success against Texas A&M where the boys picked up four wins including Volodymyr Iakubenko’s first collegiate singles win of his career.

📊 Check out the full results from the Trojans’ outing in Thousand Oaks

🔼 First Point. No. 13 ranked men’s volleyball will head to the Lone Star State to play in the First Point Collegiate Challenge this week. The Trojans are one of six teams to play in the six-match event in Austin, Texas. First, USC will take on Ball State on Friday followed by a matchup against No. 4 ranked Ohio State on Saturday.

The Trojans are 4-0 to start a season for the second time under head coach Jeff Nygaard after starting 5-0 in the 2022 season. Ball State will enter the match with a 6-2 record, but USC holds the all-time advantage with eight wins in the last 10 matchups between the two. As for Ohio State, the Trojans will need to knock off a top-5 team after having fallen in the last three meetings.

🔼 Copper Cup. Opening up the season this week was USC men’s golf in Maricopa, AZ at the Copper Cup. The Trojans took on both UCLA and Arizona State and picked up five wins across both days in the match-play tournament. Freshman Gavin Aurilia led the Trojans with two wins on the final day with wins in both the singles and doubles events.

🗣️ "I'm proud of Gavin, he was our MVP this week, winning two matches and tied another. He continues to improve and impress since the middle of last fall.” - Mark Hankins

The Trojans look to regroup before their next outing at The Southwestern Invitational at North Ranch Country Club on Jan. 29. 

🔼 Heat of the Desert. Trojan men’s basketball will head to Tuscon, AZ, to face off against the No. 12 ranked Arizona Wildcats. The contest will be aired in front of a national audience on ESPN.

USC’s Oziyah Sellers is coming off a career game in which he scored 18 points off the bench, the third time he’s been in double digits this season. On the other hand, junior guard Kobe Johnson has scored in double figures nine times this season, and USC is 7-2 in those contests.

Arizona is coming off a 73-70 loss against Washington State but is averaging over 90 points per game this season. The Wildcats are 8-0 at home and have lost just two games on their home court since the 2022-23 season.

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Racking Up Wins. USC football has seen its fair share of success over the years, making the Trojans a premiere team in the college football landscape.

Our question today: do you know how many wins USC football has recorded since 2000?

Think you got it? Scroll down to the bottom of this email for the answer!

⚔️ ONE BIG THING

Trojan football is bringing in reinforcements. Former Super Bowl Champion and award-winning coach, Eric Henderson, has been named USC's newest co-defensive coordinator/run game coordinator/defensive line coach. Most recently, Henderson served as the defensive line coach/run game coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams.

🗣️ "I'm excited to welcome the final member of our defensive staff, Eric Henderson. A Super Bowl Champion coach who has been recognized nationally for being the top in his field, Eric will bring immeasurable knowledge and experience to our program. We have put together a defensive staff that is second to none. We're ready to get to work." - Lincoln Riley

In the 2023 season, the Rams finished the season ranked No. 8 in run defense with a 70.2 grade per PFF. The Rams finished the regular season with 41.0 sacks with four players recording 6.0+ sacks. This was the first time since the 1985 season that the Rams have had four players with six or more sacks on the season. In 2021, Henderson was nationally recognized by winning the John Teerlinck Defensive Line Coach of the Year award, as voted on by his peers.

📚️ Read more about USC football’s newest coach

🏈 GAME DAY HOSTING

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📅 LOOKING AHEAD

Wednesday, Jan. 17

🏀 Men’s Basketball vs. Arizona @ 7:00pm in Tucson, AZ | Watch | Listen | Live Stats

Thursday, Jan. 18

🎾 Women’s Tennis vs. Loyola Marymount @ 12:00pm in Los Angeles, CA | Watch | Live Scoring

🎾 Women’s Tennis vs. UC Irvine @ 4:00pm in Los Angeles, CA | Watch | Live Scoring

⚔️ Click here to view the full USC Trojan Athletics Calendar

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: 215!

The Trojans have the tenth-most wins since 2000 with a total of 215 wins.

⚔️ Have a great Wednesday, everyone!