No. 2 UCLA defeats rival No. 6 USC to remain undefeated on the season
For a matchup as hyped as this, with the program’s first sellout and the first time UCLA and USC had played each other as undefeated teams, the UCLA celebration was muted.
The Bruins handed No. 6 USC its first loss of the year 71-64 on Saturday, and when UCLA guard Londynn Jones tossed the ball in the air, it didn’t go much higher than the 5-foot-4 guard’s head. She hugged teammate Camryn Brown, who turned and clapped while she walked toward the sideline with a sly grin on her face.
This is only the beginning for UCLA.
The No. 2 Bruins (12-0, 1-0 Pac-12 conference) confirmed their position as championship contenders with their ninth consecutive win over their crosstown rivals. USC (10-1, 0-1) had the top two scorers of the game with JuJu Watkins pouring in 27 and McKenzie Forbes scoring 23, but with four double-digit scorers, UCLA proved it has the depth to challenge for its first conference championship since 2006. The final Pac-12 crown before the conference dissolves could only be the start for this team that is tied for its best ranking in school history.
Jones led the Bruins with 21 points and seven rebounds with five made three pointers that helped UCLA overcome its worst shooting game of the season. She made two three-pointers in the fourth quarter that helped the Bruins squash USC’s comeback attempt.
The Trojans trailed by 10 late in the third but cut the deficit to two with 7:24 remaining with a shot from Forbes. Jones responded by scoring eight of UCLA’s next 10 points, including a three with 4:08 remaining that put the Bruins up by seven.
“She’s got ice in her veins,” UCLA coach Cori Close said.
Jones, a Riverside native who had more than a dozen friends and family in the stands and smirked, shook her head nonchalantly toward the announced crowd of 13,659. She could get used to this type of atmosphere.
“Being from Cali, it means everything just seeing everyone out here with the support, it’s tremendous, we appreciate it so much,” Jones said. “But yeah, [we’re] just working hard and building on today because it’s not over.”
In a physical battle, the first major test of Watkins’ young career, the top-ranked recruit in her class was seven for 24 from the field. She pieced together almost half of her scoring output from the free-throw line, where she made 11 of 12 shots, and pulled down 11 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.
“We haven’t faced a team like this so far so just getting used to the physicality,” Watkins said of her lesson from the game. “I have to just slow it down and really try to pick it apart.”
The star freshman was a popular draw even in an opposing arena where some fans stuck out in the sea of UCLA blue with their red No. 12 jerseys. Fans lined up hours before tipoff, overflowing off Bruin Walk in front of Pauley Pavilion into the nearby parking lot. UCLA alumni Russell Westbrook and Baron Davis were among the two rows of courtside seats.
Watkins has grabbed the basketball world’s attention and, even in a talented freshman group, is proving to be in a class of her own. When ESPN ranked its top 25 women’s college basketball players last week, the Sierra Canyon alumna was the top-ranked underclassman, checking in at No. 5. UCLA, which battled to an undefeated nonconference record despite difficult road games at Ohio State and Arkansas and a neutral game against Connecticut, had its top-ranked player — Lauren Betts — at No. 12.
UCLA proves it’s one of the nation’s top teams in a game that emphasizes the rise in popularity of women’s basketball in Southern California.
“Very incomplete list,” Close wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “I will let our games do the talking!”
The Bruins sent a loud message Saturday.
They swarmed the boards for a 47-38 rebounding advantage even though no UCLA player had more than eight rebounds. Betts led UCLA on the boards and scored 15 points with six blocks. Guard Kiki Rice shook off a foul-plagued first half to finish with 12 points, with 10 in the third quarter. Charisma Osborne, who did not make the cut for ESPN’s top 25 list despite being a potential first-round WNBA draft pick last year, had 10 points, a team-high six assists and played suffocating defense on Watkins with three steals.
With Osborne returning to college and Betts transferring from Stanford, UCLA was immediately tabbed as one of the top teams in the country.
The Trojans are back in the conversation for the first time in decades. Watkins’ arrival to USC, along with key transfers such as Forbes (Harvard) and Kayla Padilla, a three-time first-team All-Ivy League selection at Pennsylvania who had five assists Saturday, lifted USC to its highest ranking since 1994. But there’s still room to rise before the Trojans catch their rivals.
“We’re new. A bunch of new pieces to the team,” Watkins said, “so each game, we’ll learn more about each other and our strengths. This is the beginning of the season so we got a long way to go.”
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