Las Vegas, NV- The No.5 Women of Troy (25-5, 14-5 Pac-12) and No. 7 UCLA Bruins (25-6,13-5 Pac-12) brought the Battle of Los Angeles to the city that never sleeps in a double overtime showdown. The Trojans came out victorious with an 80-70 victory and punched their ticket to the Pac-12 Tournament championship for the first time since winning it in 2014.
Juju Watkins, the freshman phenom dropped 33 points and grabbed 10 rebounds despite an aggravating ankle injury that caused her to be removed from the game on two separate occasions.
After the game, Watkins spoke about her ankle, “Even when I went out, I knew I’d get back in because my team needed me.” In addition, she added “it’s just an ankle. Nothing I’m not used to. Feel great.”
USC threw the first blow in this heavyweight matchup. The Trojans went on a 16-0 run at the end of the first period and were in control 24-8. Watkins outscored the Bruins by herself scoring 9 points in the quarter.
The Bruins responded in the second quarter with a 16-0 run that helped them tie the game at 24-24. USC bounced back to close the half with a 7-0 that put them ahead 37-31 at halftime.
USC shot 38% from the field in the first half on 13 of 34 attempts and shot 30% from the three-point line making only 3 of 10 attempts.
UCLA shot 36% from the floor in the first half making 11 of 30 attempts and shot 28% from behind the arc making only 2 of 7.
In the second half, both teams struggled to put the ball in the basket. USC shot 19% from the field on 5 of 26 shooting and UCLA shot 28% from the floor.
At the end of regulation, both teams were knotted up at 59 and we were graced with an extra five minutes of basketball.
In overtime, USC and UCLA continued to battle back and forth. UCLA pulled ahead by four with less than one minute to go as Watkins headed to the free throw line for a pair of free throws. Watkins went on to make the first and missed the second but Kaitlyn Davis grabbed one of her season-high 16 rebounds and passed it to Kayla Padilla who passed it McKenzie Forbes who drilled the three to tie the game at 67-67.
In the second overtime, USC turned up their defensive pressure and forced some turnovers and some missed shots to stretch their lead to 10.
Charisma Osborne led the Bruins in scoring with 21 points and Lauren Betts anchored the paint with 17 points and 18 rebounds.
After the game, JuJu Watkins spoke about the success of the team this season and if she imagined this when she committed to playing for her hometown team. “I’m not going to lie,” Watkins said, “I did not think this would happen this soon. … I’m just blessed, honestly. Better than anything I could have hoped for, really.”
USC prepares to face the #1 seed in the tournament the Stanford Cardinals and Pac-12 player of the year Cameron Brink at 2 pm on ESPN.
