Resurgent UCLA Women's Basketball Beats USC To Complete Rivalry Sweep
Off the heels of a victory over the Trojans at Pauley Pavilion, the Bruins did it once more – this time defeating their crosstown rivals in the Galen Center.
UCLA women’s basketball (9-4, 4-1 Pac-12), powered by the high scoring efforts of guard Charisma Osborne, took down USC (9-7, 2-4) by a score of 68-58 on Sunday night, extending their winning streak to four games. Osborne scored a game-high 27 points despite shooting 35% from the field, getting a lot of work done at the free throw line at a 10-of-11 clip.
Sunday night’s contest marked the second-straight game UCLA was without guard Jaelynn Penn. Suffering a hand injury before Thursday’s first matchup between the crosstown conference foes, coach Cori Close had to mix-and-match with the players available for game time once again.
Osborne filled the point guard role Penn had been positioned in and launched the Bruins to a red-hot start early with shots from beyond the arc.
Following the Trojans scoring on their first possession of the game, Osborne hit the floor hard attempting a 3-pointer and drew a foul in the process. Moments after sinking all three free throws, UCLA’s leading scorer pulled up and converted a 3-point attempt - giving the Bruins an early 6-2 lead.
Field goals of the three-point variety were the name of the game for the Bruins in the first quarter. Five out of the seven shots made by the Galen Center visitors were from distance. Osborne converted three of the seven, while graduate guard Natalie Chou and redshirt freshman guard Dominique Onu sunk two and one respectively.
Never leaving the floor from tip-off, Osborne scored 11 points in 10 minutes of the frame and proved to be a major factor in the Bruins’ early 24-16 lead.
Starting 1-5 from the field in the second quarter, the Bruins’ offensive consistency slowed and allowed the Trojans to catch up. A 6-0 run from the hosts brought USC down four with 6:55 left to go in the half.
USC, however, fell into the same scoring rut UCLA started the second quarter with.
The Bruins got redshirt freshman forward Izzy Anstey involved, scoring a layup and a jumper from just inside the 3-point line. Osborne continued her rhythm, but from the free-throw line - scoring five points from the charity stripe.
Two of Osborne’s five second quarter free throws gave UCLA an 11-point lead, but a late layup from USC brought the gap to nine points as the Bruins led 38-29 at the first half’s conclusion.
Attempting 15 free throws in the first half, the Bruins drove into the paint with regularity, therefore getting USC into early foul trouble. Four Trojans had two fouls, while guard Desiree Caldwell had three heading into halftime. Bruins guard Kayla Owens had three fouls as well.
The third quarter started in the same manner as the second quarter – with a big USC run. Grabbing nine points from their first four possessions of the frame, the Trojans shrunk the lead and tied the game at 38.
Errors allowed the game to be knotted up with graduate forward IImar’I Thomas and Onu both causing offensive fouls which turned into buckets for the Trojans.
It was only a matter of time before the Bruins pulled away yet again, though – Owens sunk a shot from outside the paint, Osborne converted two more free throws and Thomas scored six points, letting the Bruins breathe with an eight-point lead. To cap off the run, Osborne flew past USC defenders and rolled in a layup to make the score 52-42 with 1:14 remaining in the period.
Up seven with 5:13 left in the game, Osborne collided with multiple players on the court and fell. Favoring her left arm, she walked off the floor and watched the action from the bench. In the same sequence, Onu collected her fifth foul and fouled out - leaving the Bruins with their only five available players on the floor.
Luckily for UCLA, Osborne’s absence lasted less than a minute, powering back onto the floor with just under five minutes left in the contest.
The Moreno Valley native’s resilience continued, icing the game with an acrobatic putback layup to extend the lead to 10 after hitting the rim with the shot prior.
UCLA's 10-point lead was held for the rest of the night, with the Bruins grabbing a hard-earned conference win.
Chou played all 40 minutes of the game, scoring 10 points on 3-10 shooting, while Osborne played every second besides for when she left the floor as a precaution for a possible injury.
UCLA will return to action to try and make it five-straight victories when it hosts No. 10 Arizona on Wednesday at 5 p.m.
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