LOS ANGELES — After the second matchup of the season between then No. 4 USC and No. 2 UCLA — this one, an 80-67 win for the Trojans that clinched a Big Ten regular season title — UCLA’s frustrated head coach Cori Close did not hold back.
“I’m just really pissed off,” she told reporters following the game. “We didn’t show up and do our jobs, and […] credit to USC. They were tougher. Tougher and more disciplined and they did their jobs.”
She punctuated her statement by crumpling the printed box score in front of her, then continued.
“Nothing to do with that. We’re going to have to do some real hard looks in the mirror. It’s a very weird dichotomy because on the one hand, we have a team that’s lost two games all year […] and at the same time, I’m really angry.”
After a disappointing loss on the road to USC only 16 days ago, it was clear that the internal expectation was for higher-ranked Bruins to take one back at home. Instead, the Trojans led for all 40 minutes of play, and started just as it did last time: with explosive immediate scoring and dominant play from JuJu Watkins.
It looked all too familiar. Despite varied coverage that included Bruins Londynn Jones, Kiki Rice, Gabriela Jaquez, and Janiah Barker throughout the course of the game, the sophomore – of whom a twelve-story Nike billboard in downtown Los Angeles has been erected since these two teams last met – had 30 points on the night, including 23 in the first half.
“When you play with players like Kiki and like the team we have […] you want to do your best,” Watkins said following the game. “You don’t want to let anybody down. I don’t want to let coach down. So whatever I have to do to do that and just go out there and have fun. I’m just out there playing.”
Watkins acknowledged that the atmosphere at UCLA absolutely fires her up – which was maybe most apparent after she airballed midway through the third quarter and couldn’t help but grin, saying she knew the chants of “airball” that were about to come her way. The next play down the floor, she had a monster block that bounced off a Bruin, resulting in a two-person celebration between Watkins and USC legend Cheryl Miller, who sat courtside with her UCLA-grad brother Reggie, each Miller wearing their alma mater’s colors.
But despite a huge scoring night from Watkins, USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb rightfully praised her whole team after the victory.
“I think the way we won shows the growth of our team. It literally took every single person,” Gottlieb said. “It was such a team effort… I’m a very lucky coach to have these two [pointing to Watkins and Kiki Iriafen]. They’re the best duo in the country. I thought they were locked in all week. I thought their mentality is what was a differentiator.”
Iriafen started slow with early fouls leading to limited minutes, but picked it up during a Watkins slump to start the second half. She scored the Trojans’ first four points of the third quarter and finishing with 17 points, including a one-footed turnaround jumper that ignited the smattering of red and gold in Pauley Pavillion with 6:20 left in the second half. She acknowledged that this one was an extra special win given that seniors Rayah Marshall and Clarice Akunwafo had never won a game at UCLA.
“For me coming here, I just want to be kind of like that relief for [JuJu],” Iriafen said, “So that she can just go out and play and not have a lot of pressure on herself. But I think, honestly, it was a team effort. I don’t think it was just us two. I think everybody stepped up and made some big, big plays.”
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Gottlieb, decked out in a Big Ten champions hat, said: “As a coach, your greatest hope is that you get to see your players celebrate. And it doesn’t always happen, especially doesn’t happen when you’re pretty good, because it takes little achievements to celebrate, but we’re really proud to be the Big Ten regular season champions. That’s the truest test of consistency, of excellence.”
After the teams met on February 13, a major talking point was USC’s team defense against national player of the year contender Lauren Betts. USC’s aggressive ball pressure, help defense from Watkins, and strong presence down low from Marshall and Akunwafo gave Betts one of the more challenging nights of her season when the two teams first played.
USC built on this in the rematch with the junior center only scoring 11 points alongside 5 turnovers – many of them traveling calls amid double teams. Despite key USC defenders Iriafen and Kennedy Smith each getting two early fouls, Gottlieb credits her team’s depth when it comes to defense, noting the combination of their mentality and their athleticism.
Despite only a four-turnover difference between the two teams, USC was able to capitalize off UCLA’s errors, scoring 25 points off turnovers to UCLA’s eight. The difference according to Close? Mentality and effort.
“These two right here [points to Jaquez and Rice] fought their butts off,” she said. “And they were trying to bring everybody with them. And we need more people that can be counted on to do their jobs, like these two do. Period.”
Amid offensive struggles that made the Bruins look stagnant and stifled, Jaquez had some success cutting to the hoop and creating space away from Betts, while Rice’s aggressive takes to the basket ended with her taking 11 free throws on the night.
UCLA closed to within four, 55-51, with three minutes left in the third quarter, but just couldn’t get closer than that – with USC immediately pulling out again to an 11-point lead. Soon, the energy in Pauley felt dejected and defeated, apparent to nobody more than Close.
“We’ve pretty much said, this is the way the train is going,” she said. “If you don’t think you can make changes to be on it, tell us now, I want to got everybody that goes with us to Indiana to be going in the same direction. So the way we turn it around is people make a commitment and a choice.”
Rice and Jaquez added that she and her teammates were committed to taking accountability, and ultimately figure out where they can improve. They understand time is growing short.
“It’s March now,” Jaquez said.
