University of Southern California vs. University of California at Los Angeles
USC vs. UCLA
by: Nick Jenkinson, Excel H Sports
photos by: Tony Harper, Excel H Sports/Indiana Sports Network
Social Media Influencer: Cainan Harper
Bruins Wear Down Trojans to Win the Big Ten Tournament
The (Excel H Sports ranked #3) UCLA Bruins beat the (Excel H Sports ranked #1) USC Trojans 72-67 in the Championship Game of the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament Presented by TIAA Sunday Afternoon at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. UCLA is 30-2 and clinches the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. USC is 28-3 and will find out next Sunday evening at 8 PM if they are number 1 seed for the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
USC beat UCLA in both regular season meetings 71-60 at the Galen Center on February 13, and 80-67 at Pauley Pavilion on March 1. The Bruins showed it’s hard to how it is to be a team three times in one season. The Los Angeles Schools came into the Big Ten on a mission and they delivered being the top two teams in the regular season with the Trojans only conference loss coming at Iowa 76-69 on February 2.
Lauren Betts Triple Teamed
Lauren Betts was named the Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player and scored her 1.000th career point after she transferred in the off-season from Stanford. Betts scored 17 points with 13 coming in the second half. She pulled down 5 rebounds, 4 steals, 4 blocks and had 2 assists
Londynn Jones
Kiki Rice and Londynn Jones scored 13 points apiece UCLA finished 23-44 from the field for 52 percent, 8-15 from three-point range for 53 percent and 18-21 form the free throw line down 85 percent. UCLA pulled down 27 rebounds, dished 17 assists, 10 steals, 5 blocks and committed 24 turnovers.
JuJu Watkins
JuJu Watkins finished with 29 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals along with 2 assists and was named the All-Tournament Team. Kiki Iriafen scored 10 points and was named to All-Tournament Team with Iowa’s Lucy Olsen and Michigan’s Syla Swords rounding the five player selections. USC went 24-70 from the field for 34 percent, 8-28 from three-point range for 28 percent and 11-13 from free throw line for 84 percent. The Trojans pulled down 38 rebounds, dished out 15 assists, 12 steals, 3 blocks and committed 19 turnovers.
USC led 24-19 after the first quarter and outscored the Bruins 21-16 in the second quarter to lead 45-35 at halftime. UCLA outscored USC 17-9 in the third quarter as USC led 54-52 at the end of the third quarter. USC wore down in the fourth quarter after playing a tight battle with Michigan yesterday while UCLA was able to rest its starters in a blowout win over Ohio State. UCLA took control outscoring USC 20-13 in the fourth quarter.
Timea Gardner
Janiah Barker
One of the key runs of the game was USC holding a six-point lead four straight times and four straight times Janiah Barker came down with the key rebound each time, UCLA would go on from Barker’s last rebound on a nine zero run that opened a lead USC could never recover from.
Talia von Oelhoffen
UCLA becomes the 9th school since the tournament began in 1995 to win the Postseason Tournament. The Big Ten expanded to 18 teams this season and for the first time only 15 teams qualified as Purdue Northwestern and Penn State were left out. The Big Ten is projected to get 12 teams in the NCAA Tournament which will announce its field of 68 next Sunday at 8 PM on ESPN.
One thing is for sure the Big Ten has always been good at Women’s Basketball and with the addition of UCLA, USC, Washington and Oregon. That level went up another notch as there are no easy games in the Big Ten and anyone can beat anyone at any given time. The Los Angeles Schools are both poised to make a run at the final four but know the Big Ten is going to make a lot of noise in the NCAA Tournament that is a fact.
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