No. 9 USC defeated No. 2 UCLA 73-65 in the Galen Center under Watkins. She tallied 32 points and 10 rebounds despite shooting 0-of-6 from outside the arc, and helped control the Bruins' offensive for most of the game. UCLA entered Sunday's game as one of two unbeaten teams in the nation. Now only top-ranked South Carolina remains.
Both teams struggled offensively in the first quarter, although USC led. They started the game on a 15-8 surge and limited the Bruins to one layup in the final six minutes. USC had a 15-point advantage at halftime after shutting out UCLA for over six minutes in the second quarter.
Then it was too late. In the third quarter, the Bruins progressively trimmed USC's advantage to four points, but a 9-0 surge late in the fourth wasn't enough. Watkins' midrange jumper and Taylor Bigby's layup less than a minute later put the Trojans back in charge and won by eight points.
Bruins leader Charisma Osborne scored 25 points but shot 0-of-6 from beyond the arc. The only UCLA starter to reach double digits was her. Both Gabriela Jaquez and Lauren Betts scored 10 points off the bench. The Bruins made 4-of-21 3-pointers, three of which were Jaquez's.
UCLA jumped up the rankings early this season after beating then-No. 6 UConn, Florida State, Ohio State, and USC last month. Next week, the Bruins will travel to No. 5 Colorado and No. 19 Utah.
After 32 points from Watkins, McKenzie Forbes scored 18 for USC. Kayla Padilla scored 13. The Trojans forced 22 turnovers and hit one more 3-pointer than the Bruins. They ended a nine-game UCLA losing slide in the crosstown rivalry.
With the win, USC is 13-1 this season, losing only to UCLA. Next week, they go Utah and Colorado in opposite order.
While both Los Angeles rivalries are over for the season, a Pac-12 tournament tiebreaker would be exciting to see in March.