UCLA women’s basketball to open Pac-12 play against USC

Last season, the Bruins entered conference play with an abundance of injuries after six postponements due to COVID-19 protocols.

This year, the blue and gold will kick off its 2022-2023 campaign with a healthy rookie squad and veteran upperclassmen who have led the Bruins to a 9-1 start to the season.

On Thursday, No. 10 UCLA women’s basketball (9-1) is set to face its crosstown rival USC (9-0) at the Galen Center for its Pac-12 opener. The Bruins look to uphold their six-game winning streak against the Trojans.

Last year’s Bruin squad swept all three matches against USC. This time around, the blue and gold will be facing a different Trojan team. Coach Cori Close emphasized that USC’s roster has many really good pieces.

“They’re confident, they’re deeper than they’ve been, and they have a brand new roster with a few exceptions,” Close said. “I think they have seven transfers coming in. They’ve pretty much turned over their entire roster.”

USC guard Destiny Littleton and forward Kadi Sissoko, who are both transfers, have begun to make their mark on the program. Both athletes have hit double digits in their first eight contests for the Trojans. Sissoko, who is ranked No. 25 in the nation for field goal percentage, scored a game high of 17 points in USC’s last matchup against San Jose State University.

Senior guard Charisma Osborne, already a two-time Pac-12 Player of the Week this season, is no stranger to cross-town showdowns and conference play. When asked about the Trojans’ new-look roster, Osborne said the team has been preparing to face unfamiliar players this whole season.

“We’ve been playing teams that we don’t usually play, like in the Bahamas and when we went to South Carolina,” Osborne said. “We have experience of being able to execute scouts, even if we don’t know the players that well.”

But like the Trojans, the Bruins also have a revamped squad.

All five of the freshmen have seen the floor this season, averaging 19.1 minutes of playing time. Freshman guard Kiki Rice has come into the program starting in every contest and making an impact on the defensive and offensive ends. Freshman forward Christeen Iwuala was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week last week after coming back from missing two games to score a career-high of 10 points against Cal State Fullerton.

The freshman talents are led by their upperclassmen teammates and senior leadership. Freshman forward Gabriela Jaquez said her older teammates have prepared her for this upcoming contest.

“They really emphasize that it’s a different game out there, playing against a rivalry and a conference play,” Jaquez said. “Everyone brings their A-game, especially now that we’re No. 10. Everyone is going to want to get after us and beat us, which is fine. We just have to be ourselves and win games.”

In the Bruins’ last contest against Cal State Fullerton, the team found themselves turning over the ball 27 times. Close said that tomorrow, it will all be about fighting that battle within themselves.

“It got in our heads a little bit,” Close said. “It’s been such a position of strength for us for so long and Emily (Bessior) said it in our mental training today. She said, ‘You have to stop saying, “Don’t turn it over,” and start saying, “Value the ball or make the next right play.”‘ It’s going to be really important that they win that inner game, that inner voice before we step foot out there tomorrow.”

The Bruins will tip off against the Trojans on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Galen Center.