Pretty much since the University of California at Los Angeles was carved out of the then-suburban terrain of Westwood in the early 1930s they’ve been arch-rivals in most sportswith their more entrenched DTLA rivals at the University of Southern California. For the most part, USC has owned football and baseball and UCLA has owned softball and basketball. Well, at least men’s basketball. Women’s hoops? An afterthought.
But last night that crosstown rivalry took on new heights in a sport where both have excelled in their initial Big Ten season, one where their men’s counterparts have essentially underformed, particularly the Trojans. It was their first meeting of the season, with a national streaming stage on Peacock, and they did not disappoint., CBS SPORTS’ Isabel Gonzalez shared the exciting details:
No. 6 USC claimed a 71-60 upset win over No. 1 UCLA on Thursday, handing the Bruins their first loss of the season. JuJu Watkins shined with one of the best two-way performances in decades.
Watkins finished the night with 38 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, eight blocks and a steal. That performance also included eight 3-pointers. After a bit of an offensive slump over the last month, it was exactly the performance she needed.
“It took everything,” Watkins said during her postgame interview. “It’s been a rough couple weeks for me, and to be able to kind of snap back into it and get into my rythm (sic) here at Galen versus UCLA, it’s really all I could ask for. I have the greatest teammates and I’m just glad we were able to get it done tonight.”
CLUTCH POINTS’ Erin Achenbach added some more observations from the sophomore standout:
“I’m really just like a kid out there and living out my dream,” Watkins said, as reported by Paolo Uggetti of ESPN. “When you have people like that show up, you can’t disappoint.”
The win moved USC (22-2, 12-1) to the top of the Big Ten standings, handing UCLA (23-1, 11-1) its first loss of the season. The teams are set to meet again on March 1 at Pauley Pavilion.
You read that correctly. Even in a bloated 18-team conference, this particular rivalry warranted maintaining the home-and-home they had in the Pac 8/10/12 era, and Gonzales pointed out exactly how significant the Trojans’ win was in historical context:
This was the first time USC and UCLA met while one of the teams was ranked No. 1. It also marked the Trojans’ first win over a No. 1 opponent since 1983, when they beat Louisiana Tech 69-67 to win the national championship. Basketball legend Cheryl Miller was part of that roster, and she was in attendance Thursday to watch her former program get the job done.
As for the game itself, well, let Gonzalez take the wheel once more:
Thursday’s matchup was a competitive one that saw five ties and eight lead changes, but a key moment took place with six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter that helped USC finish the job.
Watkins got a steal and a layup to give her team a 53-52 advantage, the Trojans’ first lead since early in the third quarter. The crowd at Galen Center went wild, and it felt like the momentum had shifted despite UCLA tying it soon after with a Janiah Barker free throw.
Less than a minute later, chaos ensued under the USC basket and the Trojans had four offensive rebounds in one possession. Eventually, Kiki Iriafen managed to get to the free throw line and made both attempts.
After a banner year where Caitlin Clark’s heroics propelled women’s basketball to never-before-seen heights of viewership and atttention, there has been an expected decline in 2024-25, and Watkins, already a fixture in commercials, was supposed to take over some of the mantle of zeitgeist leadership. With a good deal of her schedule limited to late night in the Eastern half of the country and stiff competition from the pros and even the men’s game she’s been somewhat limited in her ability to assume that role as the face of the sport. On a night where few men’s games of consequence were being played, a nominal NBA schedule leading into All-Star Weekend and hockey already on its own mid-year hiatus, the stars were aligned for such a significant performance.
And with the rematch scheduled for Pauley Pavilion in a scant 15 days, I can assure you that the buildup will be as big as any rivalry week contest in any sport has ever been. LA loves winners, and now they clearly have two at the top of their game.
Courage…