UCLA women's basketball stays perfect with win over USC

For the first time in school history, UCLA has completed an undefeated conference regular season. The Bruins dominated crosstown rival Southern California 73-50 to finish the conference season a perfect 18-0.

It was an intense atmosphere in Galen Center, with a sellout crowd and plenty on the line for both teams. UCLA had perfection and history at stake, while the Trojans were playing for seeding in the Big Ten tournament, a potential bye, and a signature win to burnish their season resume.

From the opening tip, it was obvious to anyone watching that this game would be a step up in intensity from the past few weeks closing out conference play. Both teams looked gassed after just a few minutes, with everyone on the court going all out to win this rivalry matchup. But the Bruin advantages were clear.

After 20 minutes, UCLA led 38-20, playing excellent team defense and its typical efficient offense. The Bruins held a 7-0 edge on second chance points thanks to a 6-2 advantage on the offensive boards. They outscored the Trojans 16-6 in the paint, and 11-5 on points off turnovers. 

The USC offense is entirely centered around star freshman Jazzy Davidson and senior transfer Kara Dunn. Davidson came into Sunday with six straight 20 point games, and a 23.7 ppg average in February. Dunn was averaging nearly 20 points per game in Big Ten play. In the first half, the Bruins held the pair to just 4 points combined on 1-6 shooting. All season long, this team has done an excellent job game planning against the opposition’s top scoring option, and Sunday was no different.

All of that excellent play mysteriously evaporated coming out of halftime. The intensity and focus that was there in abundance in the first half disappeared into thin air to start the third quarter. Southern Cal was the team with all of the energy, blitzing UCLA for an 11-2 run in just 100 seconds, cutting the deficit to 9.

And as quickly as the game flipped in favor of the home team, a Cori Close timeout reestablished order, and the momentum flipped right back to UCLA. Gabriela Jaquez hit a 3 coming out of the timeout, and the game stabilized. The quick response had to be heartening to see for Bruin fans, as it shows a true upward growth trajectory for a team looking to win a championship. 

Every team has lulls, but the Bruins responded immediately – something that might not have happened as quickly in the past – closing out the 3rd quarter on a 17-5 run. That pushed the lead to 21, and silenced the sellout Galen Center crowd except for the contingent of fans in blue.

The secret sauce, and biggest difference from this team to year’s past, is exemplified by the fact that Lauren Betts scored “only” 5 points and shot 2-10. She didn’t make a field goal in the second half, and it didn’t negatively affect the team at all. Other players can take the reins, and it’s a true “pick your poison” situation. Sunday it was Charlisse Leger-Walker, Gianna Kneepkens, and Gabriela Jaquez stepping up.

Leger-Walker was the scoring engine throughout the game. She finished with 20 points to lead the team for the first time all season. Her nature as a point guard is typically to set up her teammates, but Sunday was the right game to grab more offense for herself. She was ultra efficient, shooting 8-13, including 4-7 from three, and added 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals. 

Ten of her points came during the critical moment in the game in the third quarter after the Trojans made their run. At some point in the postseason, the Bruins will need a performance like this from Leger-Walker, and it was great to see it happen in a big game. 

Kneepkens and Jaquez both added 14 points each, combining for 11 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals. They did it in their typical ways, with Jaquez running the floor, attacking the glass, and finding garbage buckets. Kneepkens was really excellent at attacking closeouts, finding space for a variety of midrange shots. 

However, her calling card remains her outside shooting. Her transition three-pointer three minutes into the 4th quarter pushed the lead to 24 points, and effectively ended the contest right then and there. Both Kneepkens and Leger-Walker made some personal history Sunday, eclipsing the 2000 point mark in their NCAA careers. 

The Trojans committed to double teaming Betts for all 40 minutes, and in a sign of her maturity, Betts simply made the right basketball plays instead of forcing plays. The senior center dominated in other ways besides scoring, grabbing 15 rebounds (9 offensive), dishing out 5 assists, and blocking 2 shots. 

Southern Cal’s double teams were not effective, with the second defender often coming over with their hands down allowing Betts to simply turn, face the defense, and find the open Bruin. Not every pass led directly to a shot, but UCLA made several beautiful swing-swing plays for easy looks.

The Bruins looked sharp on Sunday, and it was great to see now that the calendar has flipped to March. Now the truly important games begin with every game from here on out being a one-and-done situation. UCLA has a No. 1 seed sewn up in both the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments, and its next opponent comes Friday in Indianapolis against the winner between Washington and Southern Cal.