No. 2 UCLA at No. 9 USC basketball: Three things to know
USC center Rayah Marshall shoots between UCLA’s Lauren Betts, left, and Angela Dugalic during the Bruins’ win on Dec. 30.
(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)
With a quick, two-week turnaround from their last matchup, Sunday’s rematch will be decided by “who learns the most,” UCLA coach Cori Close said.
Fueled by their crowd, the Bruins jumped out to a 12-2 lead. It felt as if the Trojans “couldn’t have been any worse on offense in that first eight minutes,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said.
But the Trojans adjusted to UCLA’s physical defense and fought back to make it a one-point game by halftime. UCLA won the rebounding battle 48-37 with Lauren Betts leading them with eight boards. UCLA outscored USC 26-14 in the paint and 16-6 on second-chance points.
“They killed us on the boards,” said Marshall, who had 13 rebounds and six points. “We know how well all five of their blue jerseys crash the boards, so I mean, if we can box out more, if we can have an eager[ness] to rebound more and close out on a couple more shots, I feel like we would have a ballgame.”
It was the Pac-12 opener for both teams and USC, with a star freshman and three transfers in the starting lineup, still was growing together. Watkins sliced up USC’s nonconference opponents but had her worst shooting performance against the Bruins, going seven for 24 while scoring 27 points with 11 rebounds. During three Pac-12 games, Watkins, the No. 1 target on every opposing scouting report, is shooting 33.3% from the field compared to 49.4% during the nonconference season.
“It’s something that you gotta go through to learn and understand,” Gottlieb said. “There’s a different game plan every week and really good opponents, especially on the defensive end, size and speed and various things. But her IQ allows her to adjust and be better with each passing day.”
