Less than 48 hours after USC women's basketball's season came to an end with a loss to UConn in the Elite Eight, freshman Avery Howell announced that she will be entering the transfer portal. As it turns out, however, Howell will not be the only Trojan departing the program, as she was quickly joined in the portal by Kayleigh Heckel and Aaliyah Gales.
Gales was a relatively unsurprising departure. After redshirting as a true freshman, she has averaged under 7 minutes per game each of the past two years, appearing in just 24 total contests. It seemed as though Gales was never truly able to carve out a role for herself in head coach Lindsay Gottlieb's program, so it makes sense that she is choosing to look elsewhere.