This story was updated February 14 at 12:13 PST.
No. 1 versus No. 6. The center of women’s college basketball was in the city of angels tonight to see who would take control of the Big Ten. And to top it all off, it was a battle for the city. A city that the Trojans took control of with a 71-60 victory over the UCLA Bruins.
In front of a sold-out Galen Center crowd, the Trojans wasted no time feeding off the energy. Graduate guard Talia von Oelhoffen opened up the scoring with a crowd-igniting 3-pointer. In a season where shooting from beyond the arc has been streaky, it set the tone.
From the opening tip, it was clear that the Trojans’ main defensive goal was to contain Bruins junior center Lauren Betts, one of the best players in the nation. With both senior centers Rayah Marshall and Clarice Akunwafo getting minutes in the first quarter, Betts was held to just four points to start the game. However, it was a total effort to slow down one of the nation’s most efficient scorers.
“I do my best to…play great post defense, but the biggest thing is ball pressure and the guards do a great job of being on the ball,” Akunwafo said. “Even if Betts is open, they can’t pass the ball to her because of amazing ball pressure.”
Defensively overall, however, the Trojans were on lockdown to start, forcing the Bruins into a measly 31% from the field and 17% from outside. A von Oelhoffen buzzer beater to end the opening quarter cemented USC’s momentum and gave them a 24-15 lead.
The strong shooting continued by none other than sophomore guard JuJu Watkins. Coming off a 5-for-21 performance last game, Watkins started lights out with five makes in six tries from beyond the arc.
“That’s the biggest thing for me…just to be happy out there, go out there with my teammates and get the job done. I think that’s really all I could ask for,” Watkins said. “It has been a tough couple weeks for me, but just staying true to the process. There’s a lesson in everything, and I think that is to always stay joyful on the court.”
However, the Bruins showed why they’re the top ranked team in the nation, going on a 14-1 run in the second and tying the game up at 35 apiece. Betts and junior guard Kiki Rice began to heat up, scoring 11 of the Bruins’ eventual 20 points in the quarter.
As the Trojan shooting cooled during the run, it was Watkins who broke the drought and tie with a last minute triple to get her to 25 first-half points and give the Trojans a three-point lead.
Bruin momentum continued into the second half with a bruising 10-0 run, seven of which came from Betts. Free throws from graduate forward Kiki Iriafen and a Watkins and-one helped slow the momentum, but it did not stop the Bruins from creating a 52-47 lead after three quarters.
But this is the Crosstown Showdown, where momentum swings as fast as a tree in the storm outside. As the Bruins went silent from the field, Watkins led a 20-5 run that gave the Trojans a 67-57 lead into crunch time.
“We have our struggles in the third quarter offensively, but just a couple big plays kept us within striking distance,” Gottlieb said. “Then we were able to take it over the top.”
A suffocating Trojan defense took them over the top and held their rivals to two made shots all quarter and five costly turnovers that only opened the window for more Trojan offense. One of the biggest catalysts for this was, in Gottlieb’s words, not letting Betts get to her spots and Akunwafo’s defense was crucial in that.
“We’ve seen it for a couple years now, and it’s as important as any other piece of our team,” Gottlieb said. “She stays ready for when her name is called.”
Once the dust settled and Watkins capped off a 38-point performance — with eight blocks for good measure — the Trojans handed the Bruins their first loss of the season.
“Anything I can do to contribute I’m going to do, and it’s not really a calculated thing,” Watkins said. “It’s just like a feel for the game. I let my mind take over.”
While it was an offensive outburst from Watkins, the Trojan defense held the Bruins to a deflating 35% from the field and 15% from outside the arc.
“This is a historic Galen performance that we should appreciate from JuJu and her team, and then move on to the next one,” Gottlieb said.
That next one comes when the Trojans head on the road to play Washington this Sunday, February 16.