The USC women’s basketball team celebrated Senior Day, honoring five players who were instrumental in elevating a program from obscurity to national powerhouse.

Kiki Iriafen, Talia von Oelhoffen, Rayaha Marshall, Clarice Akunwafo and Dominique Darius each walked on the court accompanied by family members before Sunday’s 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-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds to go along with five assists and four steals in helping No. 4-ranked USC to a 76-66 victory over No. 25 Illinois.

“This is just what we call Juicy Raya -- 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, who 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 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..”

Watkins, the Trojans’ 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.