No. 2 UCLA vs No. 6 USC | Pac-12 | 12.30.23

LOS ANGELES – UCLA vs USC


In front of a sellout crowd of 13,659, the No. 2 UCLA women's basketball team defeated crosstown rival and No. 6/5 USC 71-64 Saturday evening at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom.

Londynn Jones led the Bruins (12-0, 1-0 Pac-12) with 21 points, matching her season high. She made five 3-pointers, including two in the fourth quarter to help fend off the Trojans. Lauren Betts registered 15 points and a team-best eight rebounds while blocking a career-high six shots. Kiki Rice scored 10 of her 12 points in the third quarter. Charisma Osborne added 10 points and led all players with six assists on a night that saw her become the program's all-time leader in 3-pointers made.

JuJu Watkins scored a game-high 27 points for USC (10-1, 0-1), making 7 of 24 shots from the field. She also recorded 11 rebounds and made 11 of her 12 free-throw attempts. McKenzie Forbes added 23 points and Rayah Marshall pulled down a game-best 13 boards.

USC was held without a field goal for the initial 8:13 of the game. UCLA took advantage of the Trojans' early shooting woes, jumping out to an 8-0 lead. It was extended to 12-2 on a steal and breakaway layup by Osborne that forced a USC timeout with 4:50 to go in the first quarter. Lina Sontag added a lay-in with 2:03 left, pushing the advantage to 12.

Watkins knocked down a jump shot to snap the Trojans' skid and set in motion a 9-0 run that cut the Bruins' lead to 14-11 at the end of the frame. Watkins and the Trojans continued to find success in the second, with the freshman scoring six of the contest's next seven points to give the visitors their first lead of the night. She scored a dozen of her game-high 18 first-half points in the quarter.

Two Watkins free throws put USC up 23-19, but Jones answered for the Bruins by draining her first of three consecutive 3-pointers. Jones scored 11 straight UCLA points, helping put her team back on top at 28-27 with 3:37 remaining before halftime.

The lead changed hands a total of 10 times in the second quarter. An Angela Dugalic triple with 37 seconds left marked the final one and sent the Bruins to the break with a 38-37 advantage.

A 12-2 UCLA run coming out of the locker rooms was keyed by Rice, who scored the Bruins' first eight points. A pair of Betts free throws restored UCLA's lead to double figures at 50-39 with 5:17 to go in the third quarter. Forbes helped keep USC in striking distance with a pair of 3-pointers, but Osborne's jumper sent the game to its final 10 minutes with the Bruins ahead by a 58-51 score.

Forbes scored the first five points of the fourth quarter. A Watkins 3-pointer answered Jones' fast-break layup, trimming the Trojans' deficit to one for the first time since the second quarter. Jones responded from distance to make the margin 63-59 and the sophomore added another for a 68-61 score with 4:08 remaining. USC would get no closer than five points the rest of the contest.

UCLA has now won nine consecutive matchups with its crosstown rival dating back to Jan. 17, 2020. Saturday's meeting was the first in series history that saw both teams enter with unblemished records.

UP NEXT: vs. Oregon (Jan. 5)
The Bruins begin 2024 and continue Pac-12 play Friday, Jan. 5, when Oregon visits Pauley Pavilion. The matchup will be televised by Pac-12 Network, with tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m. PT.