UCLA women’s basketball expects tough test against rival USC

Is it possible to feel sorry for a struggling rival?

“In a word,” UCLA women’s basketball coach Cori Close said, “no.”

Fair enough. But USC might deserve some sympathy going into the final crosstown showdown of the regular season on Sunday afternoon at the Galen Center.

Having made a strong push to secure an NCAA Tournament berth without the injured JuJu Watkins, the Trojans have faltered over the last week. They dropped both of their games on a recent Big Ten trip, including one to sub-.500 Penn State.

Then there’s the matter of what happened when USC faced UCLA in January at Pauley Pavilion.

Former Bruins guard Londynn Jones made 1 of 9 shots in a deflating return to her onetime home. The Trojans got smashed by 34 points.

Close said there’s no need to have compassion for a quality team that features two former McDonald’s All-Americans in Jazzy Davidson and Kennedy Smith even with Watkins sidelined.

“Most teams in the country would die to have that,” Close said. “I mean, they’re still a really good basketball team. JuJu is a generational-level player, but they’re not in that pity pond — they just want to find ways to win games together. But no, it doesn’t change my mindset, it doesn’t make me feel sorry for them. I am completely just focused on us being our best.”

USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said after the first rivalry game that the blowout was an anomaly — and has been proven correct, considering the Trojans (17-11, 9-8 Big Ten) haven’t lost a game by more than seven points since. But they also haven’t gone up against an opponent the caliber of the second-ranked Bruins (27-1, 17-0).

This is a team that is on the verge of the first unbeaten Big Ten regular season since Maryland accomplished the feat in 2014-15.

“We’re not looking necessarily at that,” UCLA guard Gabriela Jaquez said, alluding to bigger aspirations than a historic regular season. “I think we’re looking at it as every game that we go into, being the best we can be and that’s going to result in ‘W’s.’ ” 

---

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

A victory Sunday, coupled with a Big Ten Tournament title, could help the Bruins challenge UConn for the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

That’s not to say they wouldn’t love more payback against their rivals. Last season, USC swept its first two games against UCLA on the way to winning the conference’s regular-season title. After the Trojans clinched the championship inside Pauley Pavilion, Close flung her clipboard in the locker room — a scene that’s featured in the documentary “YOU SEE L.A.” that will be shown on FS1 immediately after the game Sunday.

The Bruins got some revenge by beating USC in the Big Ten Tournament championship game. A win Sunday would make it three in a row over the Trojans.

USC announced on X that the game was sold out, enhancing the Trojans’ advantage on a court where they’ve gone 12-3 this season and have beaten the Bruins the last two times they’ve played there.

“Bring it on,” Close said of playing in a difficult environment. “We need as many challenges and adversity to help bring out new gears inside of us that maybe we didn’t even know we had, and there’s no better way to do it than having a sold-out crowd, everybody’s against you, and you’ve got to find ways to make plays anyway and that’s what we’re going to have to do to go to where we want to go, so let’s start that on Sunday.”