Women’s basketball prepares for back-to-back rivalry matchups against USC

For the first time since 2018, the Bruins will play their crosstown rivals in back-to-back games.

But that’s not the only unique part of this year’s set of matchups against the Trojans.

When UCLA women’s basketball (7-4, 2-1 Pac-12) first battles USC (9-5, 2-2) at Pauley Pavilion on Thursday night before traveling to the Galen Center for a rematch Sunday, it will also be the first time since the 2018-2019 season that the Bruins have a lower win percentage than their rivals heading into a game against the Trojans.

Recalling the last time the blue and gold played against the same opponent in consecutive contests, coach Cori Close said she’s not a fan of the unique scheduling circumstance.

“(The rivalry is) so great for growing our game, and when you do it all in the same week, I think it’s a bummer,” Close said. “It’s sort of awkward nationally too to have your rival twice in the same week. I just don’t think it gives the right impression.”

Despite her issues with it, the double-header occurrence against the Trojans worked out just fine for the Bruins in 2018, as they followed a 59-46 home victory Feb. 2 with an 84-70 road win Feb 5. The blue and gold also earned similar consecutive-game sweeps against USC the year prior and in 2013 – the only other times the two teams have met twice in a row in the last 20 years.

With this season’s situation occurring because of coronavirus-related postponements, Close said she can’t complain about it this year.

“We had it scheduled for the 28th (of December), this is what we needed to do,” Close said. “I’m thankful just to be able to have two games against them. In a normal year I might have some complaints, (but) in this year I’ve got none because I’m just glad to play.”

UCLA has won its last three matchups against USC, including a 42-point victory in the two teams’ most recent meeting Feb. 26.

The Bruins’ recent success against the Trojans isn’t limited to the past three games, however, as UCLA has won nine of the last 11 matchups in the rivalry. Additionally, the USC program hasn’t finished a season higher than the Bruins in the Pac-12 standings since the 2013-2014 campaign – its last season with a winning conference record.

With an overall 9-5 record thus far, the shift in the Trojans’ program comes after the school hired former California coach Lindsay Gottlieb – who also spent time as the assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers – prior to this season.

Close said Gottlieb’s move to USC will make both Los Angeles programs better long term.

“If you’re a competitor, you want people to challenge you all the time,” Close said. “What better way to get that challenge (than) from your crosstown rivals. She is doing a great job, is going to do a great job, and I think that’s just going to bring out better things in the Bruins at the same time.”

Gottlieb’s Trojans are led by sophomore forward Jordyn Jenkins, whose 18 points per game on 60% shooting from the field in Pac-12 play are both ranked second in the conference. As a team in conference matchups, USC ranks fourth with 67.5 points per contest and third in field goal percentage at 44.4%.

Meanwhile, the Bruins have been getting it done on the other end of the floor thus far, as their 59 points allowed and 16.7 turnovers forced per conference game rank first and third in the Pac-12, respectively.

Offensively for the blue and gold, junior guard Charisma Osborne and graduate student forward IImar’I Thomas both rank second and third in the conference in overall scoring at 18.3 and 17.3 points per game, respectively.

Heading into her first rivalry game as a Bruin, Thomas said she’s focused on winning both matchups against the Trojans.

“I’m looking forward to winning the weekend. I think that’s just very important,” Thomas said. “It is a rivalry game, but I’ve played in those before – you just don’t really need to feed into the hype.”

Thomas led UCLA with 25 points in last Friday’s 63-48 win over Washington while Osborne dropped 25 points of her own in Sunday’s 71-58 victory against Washington State.

Osborne – who earned UCLA Student-Athlete of the Week honors because of her recent performance – emphasized the importance of the two recent home wins but said the team is focused on moving forward through a competitive Pac-12 schedule.

“It was really exciting to win two games back to back, especially in the Pac-12,” Osborne said. “We’re going to take what we’ve learned from these past two games and bring it forward with us. Hopefully we’ll continue to grow and become a better team.”

UCLA tips off against USC at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday at Pauley Pavilion before playing at the Galen Center at 6 p.m. on Sunday.