The USC Trojans faced a major upset against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday. Well, if that wasn’t disappointing, the situation was aggravated when one of the Fighting Irish stars achieved a rare feat, similar to what her opponent JuJu Watkins had done recently. Now that adds to the resume, setting them in a better position, that Olivia Miles had spoken about days prior.

On Thursday’s episode of NBC’s presentation, Got Next with Meghan and Zora, Miles had shared how necessary it was for her team to upend their opponents, especially the ones in the top 5, and had the potential to make it to the Final Four.

“Yeah I mean it only adds to the resume. I think it’s really important to get a win over them. Obviously to win any game, but when you add those sort of wins to your resume, you know it just puts you in a better position, better seating later on in March — you know if we were to see them again or if you were to play tougher teams just having that win on our resume means a lot,” Miles had stated.

Ranked 3rd in the AP Top 25 this week, the USC Trojans stumbled to the number 6 Notre Dame. What was more sweet for the Fighting Irish was that they dealt hard with their opponents in an away game at Galen Center in front of 7,894 fans. With this, they ended the Trojans’ undefeated 4-0 run at the start of the season. The Irish led the game upfront and had most of the USC fans leaving the arena by the start of the fourth quarter when they battered up a 21-point lead.

Overall, the Trojans couldn’t handle it and fell short by a 74-61 margin as Miles scored 20 points with 8 rebounds and 7 assists. Combined with her teammate Hannah Hildalgo, she was a part of 44 Notre Dame points. Indeed a spectacle for anyone who supported the underdogs. But that wasn’t all. She also accomplished a rare stat, quite similar to what Watkins had achieved.

Olivia Miles follows JuJu Watkins in career milestone

Miles in what was the 72nd game of her college career, hit 1000 career points. She was on 999, when, with 2:50 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Irish star hit a jumper, taking her team to 70 points as the Trojans lagged behind at 49. The snippet of the same was posted on the official Fighting Irish account on X. Miles can be seen saving the ball from Talia Von Oelhoffen before taking her position and making the defining basket.

Meanwhile, Watkins had reached the same feat this month when she hit a jumper against the Santa Clara Broncos. Watkins had started the game with 984 career points and with 6:47 remaining in the third quarter, scored her 16th point. She accomplished the feat in 38 games, 2 fewer than that taken by Caitlin Clark. Overall, 3 people are ahead of Watkins– LSU’s Maree Jackson (1976-78), Oregon State’s Carol Menken (1979-81), and New Orleans’ Sandra Hodge (1981-84) all of whom reached the landmark in 37 games.

Miles has seen the best of herself this season, averaging 18.6 points and 8 rebounds, while going 54.2% from beyond the arc. Albeit taking many games more than Watkins, Miles has marked her presence. But her focus remains with the team, which takes on TCU next on November 29. And hopefully, they find themselves in the top 5, having attained a perfect 5-0 record so far.