UCLA beats Ohio State, adds pressure to USC showdown versus Buckeyes

USC women’s basketball won at Wisconsin on Wednesday night. The Trojans had to take care of postgame media duties, get treatment, and catch a plane home to Los Angeles. They probably didn’t get a chance to watch the Ohio State-UCLA women’s basketball game live. (Don’t worry: They’ll watch that game on film.) USC surely hoped Ohio State would knock off the unbeaten Bruins. However, it didn’t happen.

UCLA beat Ohio State in Pauley Pavilion. UCLA Wire’s Dylan McNeill had the story on a game which was tied at 44 early in the fourth quarter before the Bruins pulled away with their defense doing the job:

“The Bruins’ offense got a jolt to begin the fourth quarter and ignite a 17-1 run. The Buckeyes’ offense couldn’t find any rhythm in the fourth, but UCLA’s Gabriela Jaquez sure did, scoring 11 of her 17 points in the quarter. Kiki Rice added six fourth-quarter points, finishing with 12 in the game.”

Ohio State hit under 30 percent of its field goals against UCLA, and was just 3 of 18 — 17 percent — on 3-pointers. UCLA committed 23 turnovers but still won because it locked in on defense.

As you probably know, USC is next up for Ohio State, as the Buckeyes continue their two-game Los Angeles road trip. The preliminaries are over. It’s time to tee up the big USC-Ohio State game this Saturday night in the Galen Center. Let’s take you through the main news and notes you need to be aware of before the Trojans’ first huge Big Ten game of the season. Every game matters, but now USC arrives at the games which will define the team’s 2025 campaign:

Big Ten Women’s Basketball Standings

After Wednesday’s action, here’s how the Big Ten women’s basketball standings look at the top of the conference:

UCLA is 10-0, followed by 10-1 USC, 9-2 Ohio State, and 8-3 Michigan State. Three of USC’s next four games are against all three of those other teams: OSU first, UCLA second, and then Michigan State on February 19. This is it. This is the biggest two-week stretch of the regular season in the Big Ten.

Ohio State on the ropes

Ohio State obviously trails UCLA by two games in the loss column after falling to the Bruins, but more than that, OSU also loses the head-to-head tiebreaker against UCLA. Now, as OSU comes to the Galen Center to face USC, the Buckeyes naturally have to win to stay in the hunt. Just to underscore that point, though, if OSU loses to USC, the Buckeyes won’t just be three games behind UCLA and two behind USC; they would also lose the head-to-head tiebreakers against both the Bruins and Trojans. So, they would essentially be four games behind UCLA and three behind USC. They would be done. Finished. Roasted. Toasted. This game against USC is essentially a Big Ten women’s basketball elimination game for Ohio State. Lose, and the Buckeyes are out of the hunt. It’s that simple, and it’s not an embellishment.

Michigan State

Michigan State is sitting there with three Big Ten losses, but the Spartans play both USC and UCLA later in February. If Ohio State loses to USC, Michigan State would actually have more of a chance of making a run at the Los Angeles schools for the simple reason they get to play them and don’t yet have any negative tiebreakers against USC and UCLA. Obviously, though, Michigan State is secondary at the moment. Let’s get back to USC versus Ohio State.

Ohio State defense

USC will have its hands full with the Ohio State defense. The Buckeyes forced 11 UCLA turnovers in the first 16 minutes of Wednesday’s game. OSU forced 23 UCLA turnovers for the whole game. UCLA had a terrible time running its offense against the Buckeyes’ ball pressure. Priority number one for USC: Avoid turnovers. If the Trojans do that, they’ll take a big step toward winning.

USC travel situation, part one

USC’s Big Ten travel schedule has been brutal up to now. The Trojans have played six of their last eight games on the road. They have spent most of the past month in the Central and Eastern time zones: at Rutgers, at Maryland, at Purdue, at Indiana, at Iowa, at Wisconsin. All six of those games have come in the past 32 days (January 5-February 5). What is also unfair is that USC is having to play this Ohio State game on short rest, with a plane flight from Madison (Wisconsin) included. Ohio State gets to stay in Los Angeles after playing UCLA. The Buckeyes have a more favorable travel setup for the USC game. The Trojans will just have to power through in a game they need to stay just one game behind UCLA in the Big Ten standings. It’s a big-pressure moment for the Trojans this Saturday versus OSU.

USC travel situation, part two

This Ohio State game is obviously huge within the context of the Big Ten women’s basketball standings, but it’s also big because it completes a four-game, 10-day gauntlet for the Women of Troy: Minnesota on January 30, Iowa on February 2, Wisconsin on February 5, Ohio State on February 8. If USC can get through this game with a win, then the Trojans get four full days off before the February 13 UCLA game.

If USC women’s basketball hasn’t looked great the past few games (and it hasn’t), the travel schedule has played a role in shaping these performances. If USC can survive Ohio State, the Trojans will finally get a little more rest afterward and can refill the fuel tank for the stretch run.

Lindsay Gottlieb expertly manages Wisconsin game

The Wisconsin game — being right between the February 2 Iowa game and the Ohio State game on February 8 — was a time for USC to not overextend its starting five. These players played an emotional game at Iowa on Sunday. They needed some rest, if possible, for the big one versus Ohio State. Lindsay Gottlieb realized this and was able to execute a substitution plan which worked extremely well. No one played more than 29 minutes against Wisconsin.

JuJu Watkins played just 26 minutes. That’s huge. She won’t be overextended heading into this Ohio State game. Kiki Iriafen? 24 minutes. Rayah Marshall? Only 17. USC’s big guns got a lot of rest versus Wisconsin.

Remember: There are 200 minutes a coach has to allocate to her players in every college basketball game. In this game, the USC starters played only 117 minutes. The bench played 83 minutes. Starters played less than 60 percent of the game. That’s a ton of bench play to ensure the starters can really get after it versus Ohio State. This is a big deal. Gottlieb did her job well.

JuJu Watkins needs breakout vs Ohio State

It has been a difficult slog for JuJu Watkins of late. In her last three games, JuJu is 19 of 57 from the field — 33 percent — and 3 of 19 on 3-pointers (under 17 percent). Is that bad news? Not necessarily. JuJu got some bad games out of her system. One would think she’s due for a breakout in the big games on the schedule.

Let’s define what a “breakout game” is, however: JuJu doesn’t need to score 25 or 30 points. What matters: efficiency. JuJu needs to create points efficiently. Scoring 25 on 13 shots is elite. Scoring 25 on 25 shots is inefficient. JuJu Watkins needs to increase her shooting percentage, make the timely assist pass to her teammates, and get to the free throw line to get easy points while putting Ohio State in foul trouble. That’s what we need to see from USC’s best player.

USC women’s basketball analyst Cece Clay YouTube channel

Trojans Wired USC women’s basketball podcast

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: UCLA beats Ohio State, puts Big Ten pressure on USC women’s basketball