Alissa Pili college stats: Know more about Lynx star’s USC and Utah career

Alissa Pili played college basketball for the Pac-12’s USC Trojans (2019-22) and Utah Utes (2022-24). The Anchorage, Alaska native chose USC partly because her brother, Brandon Pili, was already playing for the university’s football program. She was later drawn to Utes culture and transferred to maximize her last two years of eligibility.

The forward entered the college circuit as a three-time Alaska Gatorade Player of the Year winner and two-time MaxPreps Female High School Athlete of the Year award winner, along with state titles in multiple sports: volleyball, shot put, discus, and wrestling.

With that, let's look at Alissa Pili's college basketball career, which showcases her ability to not just get past defenders but also adversities.

Alissa Pili's college stats with USC and Utah Utes

Alissa Pili was immediately thrust into a starting role during her freshman year of college at USC. She averaged 16.3 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals while shooting 51.1% from the field. She was honored with All-Pac-12 and Pac-12 All-Freshman selections and earned the Pac-12 Rookie of the Year award.

Unfortunately, Pili’s sophomore year was cut short as she suffered an ankle injury. As a result, she only laced up for 13 games that year. Even as she recovered, she went through a tough stretch mentally due to the injury, resulting in a dismal junior year.

She averaged just 7.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 0.8 steals during the 2021-22 season, playing just 19 games.

Nevertheless, Pili was back to her dominating ways as she found a fresh start with Utah in 2022-23. Bought in by coach Lynne Roberts, Pili led the Pac-12 in scoring (643), points per game (20.7) and field goal percentage (59%) during her junior year. She scored over 30 points twice that season and reached double-digits in every game except for one.

In her final year in 2023-24, Alissa Pili had the best offensive rating in the conference (125.6) and offensive win shares (6.8) in the conference. She also ranked top-3 in points produced (621), PER (39.1), true shooting (64.3) and total points (727), which is the most single-season points in school history.

She averaged her college-best 21.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists on over 50% shooting during her college season. She scored a career-high 37 points twice and scored 20 or more points in seven straight games from Nov. 19- Dec. 16.

On the strength of her two stellar seasons at Utah, the Minnesota Lynx picked her 8th overall in the 2024 WNBA draft.