In January 2022, Cori Close and UCLA visited Lindsay Gottlieb and Southern California at the Galen Center in a matchup between middling crosstown rivals. The attendance in that game was 1,982 people in the 10,258 capacity arena.
Three years later, it’ll be hard to find an empty seat in Los Angeles.
A sold out crowd will be on hand to watch two of the best teams in the country finally meet Thursday night when top ranked and undefeated UCLA visits No. 6 USC in one of the biggest matchups in women’s college basketball.
“It’s great for LA,” Gottlieb said. “The energy is gonna be off the charts.”
The Bruins and Trojans meet annually, but there is certainly extra juice pumped into their upcoming matchup.
Last season, both teams finally made the jump into the upper echelon of the sport. Lauren Betts transferred from Stanford to UCLA and made an immediate impact, while JuJu Watkins was a freshman sensation and brought the hype back to the storied program. Both teams spent the majority of the season in the top 10 and were high seeds in the NCAA tournament before missing out on the Final Four.
After getting a taste of that success, UCLA and USC came into this season with high expectations and have lived up to it so far. The Bruins stunned defending champion South Carolina in November en route to a 23-0 start, the longest win streak in school history. The Trojans have been a well-oiled machine with a 21-2 record, the best start to a season in more than 40 years.
And looking at the stats, it’s clear to see why each team has been so dominant. UCLA has the sixth-best field goal percentage (49%) while third in defensive field goal percentage (33.2%) and USC leads the country in blocks at seven per game. They are both top 15 in scoring offense and both win by an average of 26 points per game. UCLA leads the country with an average rebound of margin of 15.3, and the Trojans also crash the boards just as good.
Betts has been the leader for UCLA in nearly every statistical category, with now-experienced guards in Kiki Rice and Gabriela Jaquez helping out. Watkins, a top-five scorer in the country, has a star forward in Kiki Iriafen also dominating alongside a talented group of freshmen.
Neither team has had many issues in the new Big Ten, with USC’s loss to Iowa the lone one in the conference. In fact, it’s been the incumbent conference members struggling to deal with the Los Angeles schools.
Take for example Ohio State. The Buckeyes came into Los Angeles with one loss. They played their game against both teams, forcing 23 turnovers in each contest.
They lost both games by double-digits and left California winless.
“They’re both terrific teams. They’re both extremely talented, they’re both deep, they’re both well coached,” said Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff after facing UCLA and USC. “When they play each other, the games they’re going to be close and very competitive, because they’re both very good.”
What UCLA vs. USC means
Neither UCLA or USC are shying away from the magnitude of Thursday’s matchup, and the city isn’t either. The game is sold out and plenty of stars are expected to be in the crowd. Gottlieb expects a wild environment with high intensity from start to finish.
Iriafen said it will be like a “baby” March Madness game for the Trojans, knowing it’s a type of team it would have to face if it wants to win the program’s first national championship since 1984.
“This is a huge game,” she said. “UCLA is undefeated. We have a lot on the line. We’re trying to defend our home court.”
It’s the same view for the Bruins. Close called the game ‘a Final Four dress rehearsal.’
Of the 23 victories, the last 22 have been by double-digits and most of the time, complete blowouts. This is a game that feels like can go down to the wire with back-and-forth blows. Pressure does seem to be on the Bruins to remain the only undefeated team in the country and maintain their No. 1 ranking. But Close views that pressure as a privilege and something her team has to lean into.
‘We need that experience,’ Jaquez said. ‘We need to experience other teams going on runs and tying the games, and it’s just going to help us in March.’
As the home team, the Trojans also are trying to continue the momentum it’s built since losing to Iowa nearly two weeks ago. Some players felt like since then, the team has really come together and figured out its identity.
“We’re kind of at a turning point, starting to put different pieces together,” said USC guard Talia von Oelhoffen. “What better week than rivalry week to really put it all together, and have a little bit of extra, something to play for?”
Iriafen also views the game as a moment the whole city can appreciate. The devastating wildfires that ravaged the area last month were consistently on the mind of each team as they attempted to play while the region was under crisis. Now as the recovering period is underway, she wants it to be a night that showcases the best of the city.
“It’s honestly a great way for the city of LA to all just come together and watch some great basketball,” Iriafen said.
There’s no shortage of starpower in Los Angeles. From Shohei Ohtani to LeBron James, there’s plenty of reasons to watch the city’s teams. But a game that features Watkins and Betts?
That is a must-watch, and that’s why the Bruins vs. Trojans will be the biggest sporting event the city can have. National championship contenders just 13 miles apart battling it out for city supremacy.
‘What a cool thing − just right now − to have earned the right to have all basketball eyes on Southern California for women’s basketball,’ Close said.
And the best part of it all? We’ll get two meetings of this, and possibly more in March.