UCLA had the same opportunity eight days ago: Beat the crosstown rival and win a Big Ten title.
The Bruins couldn’t get the job done in the regular-season finale, but they weren’t denied a second time. After trailing by 13 during the third quarter, UCLA roared back to defeat USC for the first time this season, winning 72-67 and earning the conference tournament crown in its first year in the Big Ten.
It is the first championship for coach Cori Close and the first conference tournament title for the program since 2006. The Bruins will assuredly earn a No. 1 seed in the Spokane region and could be the top overall seed for the first time in school history.
Lauren Betts was the key to the second-half turnaround, as the tournament’s most outstanding player finally had her moment against the Trojans. Betts was more decisive in the post and more confident on the move than in previous matchups; she had 13 second-half points on perfect shooting from the field and added three blocks, two of them coming on JuJu Watkins.
Betts and the rest of the upperclassmen were adamant they had learned from their mistakes from the regular-season meetings, and that showed after the break. They sent more help to Watkins, knowing Betts was behind them to protect the rim. They contained USC better in transition. And they relentlessly pounded the ball into the paint, where they had the size advantage not just with Betts but also with Big Ten sixth player of the year Janiah Barker.
UCLA also benefited from some unseasonably cold jump-shooting from USC. The Trojans went more than 10 minutes without a made field goal from the 2:18 mark of the third quarter until Watkins made a jumper with 1:13 to play. By then, USC’s 7-point lead was a 4-point deficit.
“I’m so freaking proud of this team, we earned that win,” Betts said on the broadcast. “We just weren’t done, it wasn’t enough. We would not be denied this win, I’m so freaking proud of everybody.”
The Bruins’ recent history has been defined by near misses, including the latest loss to the Trojans. And for a while, it looked like this game would follow a similar script. USC rattled UCLA with ball pressure from Kennedy Smith and reserve guard Malia Samuels. Every time the ball fell to the ground, a Trojan was the first to dive at it. USC spread the floor after the Bruins had success with their switching defense in the previous matchup to get Betts away from the rim, and hit six 3-pointers in the first two quarters.
Watkins dominated in the first half as well, pushing the tempo and getting to the line at will. Her 18 points led the way for both teams, and she punctuated the first half by spearheading a transition possession that ended with an Avery Howell 3-pointer to put the Trojans up 10.
USC extended that lead to 13 in the third quarter, but UCLA’s defense took over. Watkins made some bad decisions in traffic, and the Bruins were able to get away with some contact in the paint. On the other end, Betts asserted her will, even hitting an elbow jumper and scoring an and-1 on a drive that started from the free-throw line.
There still isn’t much separating these two teams, and it was fitting they shared the two Big Ten titles after dominating the conference collectively. Both should be Final Four favorites and national title contenders.
As USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said after the game, her team had one bad half. “The two losses that we’ve had prior to this, I thought our team responded and really bounced forward and that’s what we’ll do heading into the NCAA Tournament. My guess is this is going to make us even better.”
But this day belonged to the Bruins, and it was a necessary win for their collective mindset. Now they can say they beat every team on their schedule as they prepare for what comes next.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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