No. 2 UCLA women view rival USC as an elimination game
LOS ANGELES — The USC women’s basketball team might not be the dominant force it was before JuJu Watkins’ knee injury last season. But the UCLA women’s basketball team must treat the Trojans like that team and approach Sunday’s game in that way if it wants to secure a perfect Big Ten season.
The Maryland Terrapins in 2014-15 were the last team to complete that feat. The second-ranked Bruins can become the next if they don’t slip up against the Trojans at the sold-out Galen Center.
“This is going to be a battle,” Bruins coach Cori Close said at Friday’s practice. “Obviously, it’s not hard to get up for a rivalry game to end your regular season.”
USC (17-11, 9-8) might not be the team that won the conference regular-season title and was competing for a national title last season, but it’s also not the same one that didn’t stand a chance against UCLA in an 80-46 blowout Jan. 3 at Pauley Pavilion. Before losses at Penn State and then-No. 10 Ohio State, the Trojans had won six in a row. Freshman point guard Jazzy Davidson is averaging 23.4 points per game and shooting 46.6% from the field over the last eight games.
“I think they’ve really found their identity on offense,” Close said.
ALSO READ: Alexander: Cori Close and No. 2 UCLA find success through balance
Despite the Bruins’ recent dominance, the only current UCLA players to have recorded a win in the Galen Center are Kiki Rice and Gabriela Jaquez when they were freshmen. Angela Dugalic was on the roster, but wasn’t available for that game. Needless to say, the stakes are high.
UCLA (27-1, 17-0) is approaching each game with that mindset. The Bruins have taken on a strategy that each matchup is an elimination game, “a 1-0 mentality,” as Close calls it. It’s their way to prepare for the games around the corner in which a loss would end their season. Playing USC as the final non-elimination game is “a gift,” Close said.
“Really putting themselves in that urgent mindset that if we don’t go 1-0, you don’t get another game, and that’s all we’re thinking about,” Close said.
“We want to finish off the season on a good note going into the conference tournament,” senior Lauren Betts said. “We’ve worked hard every single game, and we’re going to go into it like we do every other game. We want to compete and be a version of ourselves. So, you know, obviously, it’s our rival, but we’re going to go into it like we do every game.”
UCLA has a natural animosity for its crosstown rival, displayed by Close offering no pity for the position USC’s in with Watkins’ injury. But there are close connections between these teams. USC guard Londynn Jones will celebrate her Senior Night on Sunday in the Galen Center after playing her first three seasons at UCLA. It is a reality Jaquez, a UCLA lifer, said “just doesn’t feel right.” And Betts referred to Davidson as the “best friend” of her younger sister Sienna.
What’s more, UCLA and USC have worked together in increasing the buzz around women’s basketball in California. Their efforts are behind both iterations of this season’s rivalry selling out their respective arenas.
“It bodes well for the future of girls’ and women’s basketball in our city,” Close said. “Bring it on. We need as many challenges and adversity to help bring out new gears inside of us that maybe we didn’t even know we had.”
No. 2 UCLA (27-1 overall, 17-0 Big Ten) at USC (17-11, 9-8)
When: 3 p.m. Sunday
Where: Galen Center
TV: FS1/710 AM