The No. 4 UCLA Bruins made the No. 2 USC Trojans look finally beatable on Sunday during the Big Ten Tournament final.
Led by junior center Lauren Betts’ 17 points, the Bruins—whose only losses this season were a regular season sweep by USC—defeated the Trojans in the Big Ten Tournament Final, 72-67, to clinch an NCAA Tournament berth.
UCLA Wins Big Ten, Proves JuJu Watkins, USC are beatable
The Trojans had defeated UCLA by double digits in their previous two meetings. With Southern Cal leading by as much as 13 early in the third quarter, it looked prime to happen again. But UCLA managed to tie the game back up by the start of the fourth and never looked back.
On top of Betts’ 17, junior guards Londynn Jones and Kiki Rice each put up 13 points to help the cause.
On the other side of the ball, USC’s star sophomore guard Juju Watkins put up 29 points but only converted three field goals after halftime, shooting 9-for-28 overall.
“I know the amount of work that went into it, and this team means everything to me,” Betts, who won the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, said. “The confidence that this team has [from] winning that game going into March Madness is a lot.”
Both teams remain in contention for No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament with USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb recently proclaiming that whoever won the game should be the No. 1 overall seed.
“We were No. 1 in the country for 13 weeks,” UCLA head coach Cori Close said. “[USC] has, really, I think, shown the steadiness and the quality of their wins and how they have grown and changed. They’re an excellent team. They’re a championship-caliber team.”
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“I think it would mean a lot for us both to be No. 1 seeds. I think you have to prove yourself. Your play has to back that up. And I hope we do get the chance to do it in Tampa [in the Final Four] a fourth time.”
Both of these former Pac-12 foes will finally find out if their efforts were enough on Selection Sunday on March 16. The TV special, which will air on CBS, will showcase the men’s and women’s March Madness brackets with each team’s seeding.
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