USC women’s basketball to play host to No. 10 UCLA on Sunday

The UCLA and USC women’s basketball teams have arrived at the second half of the Pacific 10 Conference schedule, which also happens to be a fork in each of their seasons.

But they got there heading in entirely different directions.

UCLA, 18-2, 8-1 in conference play and ranked No. 10 in the nation, is off to its best start in 30 seasons and hopeful of riding that momentum to a high seeding next month when the NCAA tournament field is announced.

“We don’t want to just settle for having our names called,” UCLA Coach Nikki Caldwell said.

Meantime, USC (13-7, 5-4) enters Sunday afternoon’s game against the Bruins at the Galen Center having lost three of its last four.

Early in the season, the Trojans upset Gonzaga, which was ranked No. 22 at the time, and Georgia, which was ranked No. 17, and they nearly beat then-No. 4 Xavier, igniting their own postseason hopes.

However, recent setbacks against California, Stanford and Arizona State have left USC in dire need of a quality win.

“We’ve got to start winning now,” USC Coach Michael Cooper said, adding that if the Trojans can reach 22 or 23 wins — they have nine regular-season games remaining, plus the Pac-10 tournament — “that’s good enough to get into the [NCAA] tournament.”

In order to get back on a winning path, USC will have to play much better than it did earlier this season against UCLA. The Bruins routed the Trojans, 61-42, Jan. 8 in Westwood, shutting down the Trojans with tenacious defense.

The Bruins rank second in the Pac-10 in scoring defense, giving up 54.7 points, and Cooper said the pressure UCLA musters makes it difficult for teams to run their usual offenses.

But USC’s coach also said the Bruins are vulnerable if open lanes to the basket are attacked — something he feels the Trojans didn’t do nearly enough in last month’s loss.

Caldwell knows the result of the rematch could come down to that aspect.

“That’s something we’ve really been working on, not overextending our defense — especially when you have really great perimeter players as they do,” Caldwell said, referring to USC guards Briana Gilbreath, who is averaging 15.3 points, and Ashley Corral, who is averaging 12.0.

The Bruins are strong inside with junior forward Jasmine Dixon averaging 12.1 points and 6.7 rebounds, and outside with senior guard Darxia Morris averaging 12.5 points.

The Trojans players know what they are up against.

“This first game [of the second half] is crucial,” Gilbreath said.

baxter.holmes@latimes.com