Entering Saturday, USC women’s basketball hadn’t beaten its rival UCLA in nine attempts, the last win coming in double overtime in January 2020.
It would have been tough to believe that outcome would change this time, considering that the Bruins entered at 14-0 and as the No. 2-ranked team in the nation. It might have been more unbelievable knowing that USC would be missing its starting center and that its freshman phenom would spend several minutes after the game lying on the Galen Center court due to cramps.
But freshman guard JuJu Watkins still wanted the mic to address the sold-out crowd for a reason.
Watkins screamed, “Fight on!”, followed by a massive cheer, after her 32-point, 10-rebound performance led No. 9 USC (13-1, 3-1 Pac-12) to a 73-65 victory over UCLA (14-1, 3-1 Pac-12) on Saturday afternoon.
“This was un-f’ing-believeable,” USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb had said to the crowd shortly before, in a fair assessment of a thriller between the two rivals. Both Gottlieb and UCLA head coach Cori Close marveled at the game’s environment at Galen Center. As much as this win means for USC and Gottlieb’s incredible program rebuild, it might be as meaningful for the sport as a whole in Los Angeles, on the West Coast and around the nation.
“The narrative is changing — women’s basketball is cool. If you’re not on board, you’re behind,” Gottlieb said. “When it’s exciting, people will come out. L.A. appreciates good basketball.”
USC was without junior center Rayah Marshall, the Trojans’ leading rebounder and shot blocker, due to illness. In her relief, junior center Clarice Akunwafo made her third start of the season, though she entered Saturday averaging less than three points and three rebounds per game.
Interestingly, UCLA sophomore center Lauren Betts — also one of the premiere bigs in the nation — did not start either, though she checked in after just two minutes. Betts didn’t appear to be 100%, as her 10 points and three rebounds fell well short of her normal averages. Regardless, even though her stat line doesn’t jump off the page, Close praised Akunwafo for putting together one of her best career performances against Betts when USC badly needed it.
Gottlieb was short and sweet in describing Akunwafo’s game: “Unbelievably impressed but not surprised.”
Similar to these teams’ first contest two weeks ago, it was a rather cagey start full of turnovers and missed shots on both sides. USC and UCLA combined to start just 4-for-25 from the field and 0-for-8 from range, along with nine total turnovers.
Graduate guard McKenzie Forbes drained 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to give USC a 15-6 lead late in the first period. Even as a new Trojan, the offseason transfer is already establishing herself as a Bruin beater. Her 23 points at Pauley Pavilion helped keep USC in that game, and she kept up that momentum by outscoring UCLA by herself in the opening quarter, 9-8.
In the absence of Marshall, one of the nation’s top defenders, Gottlieb’s answer to the Bruins’ size and scoring was to be relentlessly aggressive. Her team was up to the task, with hands absolutely everywhere on the defensive end to force 15 first-half turnovers that led to 16 Trojan points. Graduate guard Kayla Padilla had two of USC’s eight steals before halftime, both of which came on sneaky takeaways in the Bruin backcourt.
“We stepped out today and were like, we’re going to be the aggressors, we’re going to be the ones causing turnovers,” Forbes said. Gottlieb added that the defensive gameplan remained the same against UCLA — the Trojans just needed a little more from everyone in Marshall’s absence.
Even when UCLA did get shots off, they weren’t falling. The Bruins’ stud guard trio of graduate Charisma Osborne and sophomores Kiki Rice and Londynn Jones scored just two total points in the first half, missing all eight of their 3-point attempts. Only sophomore forward Gabriela Jaquez could get anything going from outside, making three triples to keep the Bruins in it.
“We talked a lot about Londynn Jones, who has kicked our ass a couple of times in a row,” Gottlieb said, complimenting redshirt sophomore guard Taylor Bigby’s defensive effort on Jones.
It also didn’t hurt that USC had clearly the best player on the court in Watkins. After a Jaquez three made it a 17-16 game, the Trojans responded with a 15-0 run over the next six minutes; Watkins had eight of those points to finish the half with a game-high 16.
Even though she didn’t shoot all that well from the field, Watkins’ ability to get to the free-throw line (and convert) proved to be pivotal. As we’ve come to expect, the star freshman didn’t appear to be phased by the spotlight, making all 16 of her attempts at the charity stripe after drawing 12(!!) fouls. Watkins also added four blocks, three steals and three assists in another complete performance that has become typical for her.
And as a L.A. native, it was clear how much the game meant to Watkins, who admitted to not getting much sleep the night before.
After trailing 34-19 at the break, the Bruins started to wake up, particularly Osborne, who has also been sick this week, according to Close. Following a scoreless first half, Osborne contributed 15 points to keep the Bruins within ten points entering the final frame. Still, Watkins kept up, scoring 10 of her own in the quarter, plus an emphatic transition block of Osborne.
As UCLA continued to hang around, USC’s veterans made their mark. Forbes continued to assert herself in Bruin nightmares with a transition three from the wing, followed by a Padilla triple on the next possession to push the Trojan lead to 13 with five minutes to play. That veteran presence from the pair of Ivy League graduate transfers has complemented Watkins’ youthful playmaking very well this season.
“I sometimes refer to it as JuJu and the nerds,” Gottlieb, herself an Ivy Leaguer, joked postgame about her squad’s dynamic.
It wasn’t quite enough to put UCLA away. The Bruins’ press down the stretch caused numerous issues for the USC offense, leading to easy scores for Jones and Osborne — who finished with 25 points.
Finally, after a final few minutes that featured a seemingly endless amount of jump balls, a Padilla rebound and free throws ensured that the Spirit of Troy would be playing “Tusk” after a remarkable upset win for USC.
The schedule doesn’t lighten up for the Trojans, who now head east for a road trip in the Rockies. No. 19 Utah is up first for USC on Friday at 6 p.m. PST.