LOS ANGELES – Maybe you expected fireworks, as loud and as vibrant as the roar from throngs that rattled the Galen Center on Sunday, swelling and flowing every time JuJu Watkins raced free in transition and every time a call went against blue and white.
Maybe you expected a show worthy of this unstoppable moment in women’s collegiate hoops, Galen selling out full two weeks after Pauley was packed-out for the USC-UCLA women’s hoops matchup that represented the epicenter for hoops in Los Angeles Sunday. Worthy of the glowsticks that eager Trojan fans waved in the lower basin, worthy of an upper basin stuffed to the nosebleeds, the cacophony of exhilaration that drowned out any personal conversation when Watkins’ name was announced in pre-game introductions.
This was Southern California kid against Southern California kid, lifelong competition undercutting a cross-town rematch between two of the best programs in the nation, USC visibly scrapping for every inch to reclaim a loss to UCLA two weeks earlier. No, this was a dogfight.
No buckets were given, this Sunday. Everything was earned, through a thicket of arms and elbows and claws, possession of the ball treated like the holder of the Holy Grail, the Bruins’ Kiki Rice and Trojans’ McKenzie Forbes shoving after some post-whistle contact with a minute to go. And as UCLA knocked USC out of a flow offensively with sheer physicality two weeks ago, it was the Trojans’ turn to overwhelm the Bruins with swarming defense and ever-active hands, Watkins and company leaving crimson-red hearts on the floor in a 73-65 win.
The win snapped a nine-game losing streak to UCLA and gave the No. 2 Bruins their first loss. Signs of just how far the No. 9 Trojans have ascended as a national power in a rebuild orchestrated by Lindsay Gottlieb, accelerated by a transcendent freshman talent in Watkins. And in front of her hometown crowd, with her family and former USC great Cheryl Miller sitting courtside, Watkins turned in perhaps her most impressive performance yet: never once giving up on a shot that came off iron, smacking the hardwood like a wrestler and popping right back up to pulverize the paint into submission.
Watkins finished with 32 points, making all 16 free throw attempts. She added eight rebounds, three blocks and two steals. She chased every loose ball and spent 100% of her stamina. 100% stamina spent. And Watkins’ stardom still galvanized an entire arena, the throngs roaring every time she attacked the cup and drew a whistle. In the third quarter, with USC up 51-41, she raced from behind to block a pull-up jumper from Charisma Osborne, then somehow grab the rebound and fling it over her head back into play before it went out of bounds.
It was an effort and physicality sorely needed, as Watkins raced and bumped down to trap UCLA’s bigs without a key threat on the floor for USC. Just a few days after speaking at practice about her eagerness for a “new champion to take over,” big Rayah Marshall was out sick on Sunday – a huge loss considering the Trojans were undersized to begin with. And in the first quarter, UCLA got a couple easy buckets off simply feeding 6-foot-7 sophomore Lauren Betts in deep post position.
But the Bruins’ offensive attack ground to a quick and screeching halt with swarming physicality from Watkins and other help defenders, jumpers not falling and passes tipped into enemy hands. UCLA had just 19 points against 15 total turnovers at halftime, seemingly threatening to give head coach Cori Close a migraine as she berated the officials for a couple clearly missed calls against the Bruins. And USC took advantage after a sloppy start themselves, with McKenzie Forbes hitting huge back-to-back threes in the first quarter and largely stepping up as a scoring threat next to Watkins.
The two kept UCLA at bay in the third quarter, Forbes finishing a tough and-one layup through contact and Watkins racing in transition for layups and free throws. In the final period, though, UCLA made a late push thanks to a heroic effort from Osborne, who tallied 10 of her 25 in the frame as the game devolved into a free-throw battle. But a couple late Bruin tries fell off iron, and as senior Kayla Padilla hauled in a huge rebound and headed to the line for game-sealing free throws, Watkins raised her arms with palms up to the home crowd in ecstasy – the hometown kid who’d finally taken down UCLA.
Forbes finished with 18 points, with Padilla adding 13. Osborne scrapped for 25 points for UCLA.