USC Women’s Basketball: Trojans Avenge December Loss Vs Bruins At Home

JuJu strikes again!

Powered by a 32-point JuJu Watkins outburst, your USC Women of Troy finally felled their mighty Pac-12 (soon-to-be Big Ten) crosstown rival, the UCLA Bruins, dealing them their first loss of the 2023-24 season, a 73-65 Galen Center masterpiece on Sunday night (even without ailing center Rayah Marshall) the Trojans led during all but the first 7:13. 

The victory elevated USC to a 13-1 record on the year, while downgrading the Bruins to a "meager" 14-1.

Watkins poured in her 32 points on a relatively inefficient 8-of-22 shooting from the floor, but scored half her points by nailing all 16 of her free throws, bodying her way inside at will, apparently. The 6'2" freshman wing also chipped in 10 rebounds, three assists (against six turnovers), three blocks and three steals.

Ex-Harvard transfer McKenzie Forbes (18 points on 6-of-16 shooting from the field and 3-of-5 shooting from the foul line) and senior guard Kayla Padilla (13 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor and 3-of-4 shooting from the free throw line) were the only other Trojans to score in double figures.

USC enjoyed a major edge in foul looks, and went 24-of-32 from the charity stripe, compared to UCLA's 17-of-21 shooting from the foul line.