USC sophomore JuJu Watkins contributed 38 points, 11 rebounds, and eight blocks to help give UCLA their first loss of the season. After five ties and eight lead changes, USC defeated UCLA 71-60.
Shooting inaccuracy plagued the Bruins throughout the matchup. In the final phase, the Women of Troy outscored them 24-8.
“We needed to get more quality shots as a team and we didn’t do that in the fourth quarter,” said UCLA women’s basketball head coach Cori Close. “We need to do a better job in our ball movement and our screening action so that we can get easier shots out of that.”
The Women of Troy battled junior center Lauren Betts with double-teams. Senior center Clarice Akunwafo helped in that effort when senior center Rayah Marshall got into foul trouble.
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“I did my best to shield [Betts] and play great post-defense,” Akunwafo said. “But the biggest thing is ball pressure and the guards do a great job of being in that ball. Let’s say one second Betts gets open, they can’t pass the ball because of amazing ball pressure.”
Akunwafo also expressed her gratitude to Watkins for helping her defend Betts.
“We talked about not letting Betts get to her spots but she also can get deflections and kind of get around to make it tough with lunging,” said Women of Troy basketball head coach Lindsay Gottlieb.
UCLA had their best performance in the third quarter. They started with a 10-0 run that gave the Bruins a seven-point lead. Betts scored nine points in the phase.
“I got to do better, period. I think towards the end, I was just forcing a lot of tough shots,” Betts said. “We just got to keep our heads up and just keep going forward.”
Watkins struck first in the matchup, making three three-point shots in the first quarter to give the Women of Troy a nine-point advantage. On a night where the likes of Sanaa Lathan, Kevin Heart, Dearica Hamby, Kelsey Plum, and members of the 1983 Women of Troy basketball team were in attendance, Watkins did not want to disappoint.
“It was just an amazing crowd and I’m grateful for all the fans,” Watkins said. “I’m really like a kid out there, just living out my dreams.”
