WOMENS BASKETBALL

Southern Cal 80, UCLA 70

W.G. RAMIREZ
ASSOCIATED PRESS

LAS VEGAS - JuJu Watkins had 33 points and 10 rebounds and No. 5 Southern California outlasted No. 7 UCLA 80-70 in double overtime in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals.

USC (25-5) outscored the Bruins 13-3 in the second overtime to advance to face No. 2 Stanford in the championship game Sunday. The Cardinal beat No. 13 Oregon State 66-57 in the first semifinal.

The Bruins (25-6) had a chance to win with 1.9 seconds left in both regulation and the first overtime, but couldn’t get a shot off.

McKenzie Forbes added 17 points for the Trojans, while Rayah Marshall had seven points and 11 rebounds and Kaitlyn Davis contributed with eight points and 16 rebounds.

Charisma Osborne led UCLA with 21 points. Lauren Betts added 17 points and 18 rebounds, Kiki Rice had 11 points and six assists before fouling out. Angela Dugalic chipped in with 10 points and eight rebounds.

Though the Bruins closed the third quarter hitting just 1 of 10 field-goal attempts, they outscored USC 14-11 to keep within striking distance.

Osborne hit a mid-range jumper with 8:28 left in the game to give UCLA its first lead since late in the second quarter, at 49-48, breathing life back into the Bruins and setting off a sequence of lead changes for the home stretch.

USC’s Kayla Padilla hit three free throws to make it 51-49, the Bruins would get basketsds from Osborne and Dugalic to regain the lead, 54-51.

Watkins sparked an 8-0 run with six of the points, and the Bruins would answer with back-to-back buckets, again culminating with a Dugalic 3-pointer to tie it at 59, where regulation would end.

BIG PICTURE

UCLA: Sophomore Christeen Iwuala came in averaging 3.8 points in 12.1 minutes per game. But during a critical 20-4 second-quarter run that helped the Bruins erase a 16-point deficit, the 6-foot-2 forward contributed four points in a five-minute span.

Southern California: The Trojans ranked 31st in the nation with a 3-point shooting percentage of 35.7%, but shot just 21.0% on Friday, hitting 4 of 19.

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

Southern Cal athletics press release

March 8, 2024