Sights and sounds from the crosstown, top ten matchup in Los Angeles

USC Head Coach Lindsay Gottlieb told reporters after the game, “we weren’t a terrible team after we lost to Notre Dame, and we’re not the national champions tonight, but when you have opportunities in front of you, it can test where you are.” 

JuJu Watkins’ night was nothing short of dominant. She started the game with six threes in a half, a personal best. Her activity on both sides of the ball was simply heroic, as she rebounded from a short shooting slump with a 46.2% night from the floor and a 6-9 performance from three point range – getting USC going with momentum and energy from the initial tip. 

The key to UCLA’s success all season has been Lauren Betts’ ability to get touches in the paint. The junior center is averaging 19.5 points and 9.9 rebounds on the season, as well as 2.9 assists — including an 11 assist game against Minnesota earlier this month. UCLA has done an excellent job of getting Betts deep in the post and when she hasn’t scored, she’s found teammates cutting to the basket or a shooter has relocated for a kick out and outside shot. But on Wednesday, USC made it hard on the 6’7 post. 

In only her third 20 minute game of the season, senior post Akunwafo challenged Betts in the post, playing excellent one-on-one defense that made it difficult for her to do what UCLA Head Coach Cori Close referred to as “no move neededs,” where she catches the ball low and can put the ball in the basket. When asked about Akunwafo’s stellar defensive performance after the game, Gottlieb said “No one in our locker room was surprised at the performance that Clarice put on,” adding “We all know what she’s capable of and she plays her role as well as anyone I’ve coached.” 

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But Akunwafo had the help of Watkins on the help side double, and Smith’s ball pressure on Kiki Rice and other ball handlers, disrupting the passing lane into the post. While Betts still put up a team best 18 points, she shot her lowest percentage of the season at 38.5%, and had her shot blocked 5 times, most of them by Watkins. Akunwafo gave credit to the team defense, saying “Yes, I do my best to shield her and play great post defense, but honestly the biggest thing is ball pressure, and the guards do a great job of being on the ball,” noting that even when Betts was open, her guards made things difficult.

But Gottlieb made her take a little more credit credit. “It’s just a clinic in post defense,” the coach said. “Because we talked about not letting Betts get to her spots. So C is 6’6 and incredibly athletic, and just works to not let her get to the spots. But then she can also can get deflections and kind of get around without lunging and giving her something easy. I mean, we just, we’ve seen it for a couple years now, and it’s just as important as any other piece of our team and our singular ability. She stays ready for when her name is called.” 

The game felt solidly in USC’s hands, and then solidly in UCLA’s before USC took the lead for a final time, fueled by a sold out Galen Center crowd that included a full student center, alongside a packed celebrity row of Kevin Hart, Jayden Daniels, Vanessa and Natalia Bryant, Flea, Kelsey Plum, Dearica Hamby, and fictional and actual USC women’s basketball legends Sanaa Lathan (whom Watkins repeatedly called “Monica” post game, referencing her iconic Love & Basketball character), Cheryl Miller, and Tina Thompson. 

“When you have people like that show up, you can’t disappoint,” Watkins told reporters. “So shout out Monica. Yea, I’m really just a kid out there, living my dreams.” 

With 3:38 remaining in the game, Akunwafo stole the ball from Betts, resulting in a basket from Kiki Iriafen, who struggled to gain momentum until the final quarter. Galen erupted, and it didn’t seem like it could get louder, until a block from Akunwafo with 2:25 left ended with an Iriafen and-one and we were quickly proven wrong. The Trojans outscored the Bruins 24-8 in the final quarter. 

After the game, Coach Close told reporters “We got out-toughed in the fourth quarter, and we’re going to have to learn from that. And you know, respond, we got a really good Michigan State team coming in on Sunday, so there’s no time to be in the pity pond. Coach Kay Yow used to say, ‘you can swish your feet in the pity pond, but no swimming laps,’ and there’s no time for us to swim laps. I love this team. I believe in our team, and I believe that we’ll, we’ll let this loss teach our hearts.” 

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