When any basketball team comes off a .500 season and loses it's top three scorers and best two rebounders, it would be easy to panic looking toward the future.
Staring this obstacle right in the eyes, the USC women's basketball team approaches it as an incentive to improve and challenge themselves everyday, even months before the season begins.
Coming off a 15-15 (7-11) campaign a year ago in which they fell in the first round of the PAC-12 Tournament, the Women of Troy look to return to the conference champion form they were in just two years ago and need to rely on a roster with much turnover.
USC graduated two seniors last season, Alexyz Vaioletama, the team's leading scorer averaging 12 PPG, and Kaneisha Horn, an All-PAC-12 Defensive honorable mention selection, in addition to losing two transfers and four other women leaving the team.
Despite several key loses, the Women of Troy's roster remains stocked with talent and features some pivotal newcomers that are poised to make an immediate impact.
Part of that incoming freshman class ready to make the quick transition to collegiate ball is left-handed New Zealand guard Khaedin Taito, who played for her national team at the under-16, -17 and -18 levels.
Taito is one of four incoming foreign recruits, adding to freshmen Australian forward Dani MIlisic and guard Candela Abejón from Spain, as well as Harvard transfer graduate student Temi Fagbenle, who hails from London, England.
After opening the first half of last season with a 11-5 record, the Women of Troy went on to drop 10 of the last 14, a tally that Cooper realizes cannot be repeated.
While the season is still months out from the mid-November season opener and players are getting settled in on campus, the third year coach said the summer sessions are pivotal for her team to work on their cardiovascular training and learning the heart of her system.
As for plans to utilize this new and improved conditioning program, Cooper is emphasizing that her team will be more athletic than in the past and can use its training to get up and down the court more often.
Though she loves to push the tempo on offense, Cooper, who is third on USC's all-time leading steals list from her playing days as a part of the National Championship teams in the 80s, realizes that the Women of Troy need a plan to springboard that attack.
While some people spent their summers relaxing in various vacation zones, Cooper racked up the airline miles traveling to over eight different states ranging from Oregon to South Carolina, but not in search of the perfect beach day.
"Between camps and recruiting and really trying to get the right players for our program, I've been doing nothing more than working 24 hours a day," Cooper said.
The Women of Troy look to capitalize on their coach's pursuit as the team's quest for a second PAC-12 Title continues this winter.
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