(Photo Courtesy of Pac-12 Digital Newsroom)
UCLA Women's Basketball Turns on Jets, Beats USC to Open Pac-12 Tournament
The Bruins had seen their double-digit lead completely disappear, and with time waning, the Trojans were not going away.
The 17-0 advantage on second-chance points wasn't enough. Neither was doubling their opponent's points in the paint, plus their points off turnovers. The game was tied early in the fourth quarter, and it was not shaping up like the two near-blowout crosstown rivalry matchups from earlier in the season.
And that's when the Bruins pulled away.
UCLA women's basketball (14-11, 8-8 Pac-12) flipped a switch on both ends of the floor, stringing together a dominant final stretch to beat USC (12-16, 5-12) by a score of 73-60 and advance to the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament in the process. The Bruins ended the night on a 9-of-14 shooting tear – hitting deep 3s and sending the bench into multiple frenzies – while also forcing the Trojans to miss 15 consecutive shots.
Prior to that stretch, UCLA was shooting 32.7% to USC's 48.5% from the field, only managing to preserve their lead by building an advantage on the offensive boards.
To open the night, it was the usual suspects doing their part for the Bruins – forward IImar'I Thomas was putting up shot after shot down low and guard Charisma Osborne was taking care of business at the free throw line. But when things took a turn late, it was guard Jaelynn Penn who got things going with a jumper and 3-pointer, guard Chantel Horvat who hit some free throws and a field goal of her own and forward Angela Dugalic who drilled a dagger 3-pointer to secure her 13-point, 12-rebound double-double.
Thomas and Osborne of course added an and-1 and a garbage time jumper to the fourth quarter blowout, respectively, only boosting the team's highest-scoring frame of the night.
Thomas, Osborne, Dugalic and Penn all scored in double figures, and Horvat and guard Natalie Chou weren't far behind with eight and nine points each.
The Bruins and Trojans stayed within three points of each other all the way through the first quarter, and it stayed that way in the opening minutes of the second quarter as well. UCLA then pulled ahead with a 9-0 run capped off by Dugalic hitting a layup and 3-pointer – her first of the season and one of two on the night.
USC answered with a couple buckets, only for the Bruins to stage an 8-0 run and extend their lead to 13 points.
It was looking like it could be a blowout, with everyone getting in on the action – Thomas led the way with 10 points, while Dugalic and Chou had seven, and six different UCLA players had scored to that point.
The Trojans pushed back, though, drawing fouls and getting to the line to spark a 6-0 run before the break. Coming out of halftime, it took less than two minutes for USC to cut the deficit all the way down to one on a 3-pointer by guard Tera Reed.
The back-and-forth, tight game returned, as the Bruins were only able to pull ahead by six before the Trojans tied it up with a pair of free throws with three seconds left in the third quarter. UCLA and USC traded free throws to open the fourth, leaving the game tied at 48 all with nine minutes left on the clock.
The next six-and-a-half minutes featured seven Bruin field goals and none from the Trojans in what turned out to be a game-sealing 21-5 run.
As a result, UCLA one-upped its regular season sweep of USC by making it a perfect 3-0 against their crosstown foes in 2022.
UCLA is now set to face off against against Oregon on Thursday, with tipoff scheduled for 6 p.m. The Bruins and Ducks played once earlier this year, and the blue and gold lost that one 67-53 up in Eugene.
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