Beating your crosstown rivals is always sweet.

Beating them by a large enough margin to earn the No. 1 overall seed in the MPSF tournament? Even sweeter.

No. 3 UCLA women’s water polo (18-4, 5-1 MPSF) took down No. 1 USC (26-2, 5-1) on Saturday afternoon 13-9 to conclude its regular season. With a three-way tie between UCLA, USC and Stanford in both overall conference records and head-to-head results, the Bruins were awarded the regular season title via a goal differential tiebreaker decided by a single score.

The Trojans had the jump on the Bruins early, getting out to a 4-1 lead.

But a 7-0 second quarter – part of a 10-0 run – put the Bruins ahead at Spieker Aquatics Center on Senior Day.

“USC came out with really great energy that first quarter. We really had to make a decision if we wanted to compete, and we really turned it around that second quarter, and the girls really came out and just worked as a unit,” said assistant coach Brooke Maxson. “At first a little panicked, maybe a little nervous, working as individuals, but after that point, the team just came together, and everyone was working together really well.”

The first half was nearly identical to UCLA’s 16-9 win over Hawaiʻi last weekend. Then too, the Bruins fell behind 4-1 but outscored the Rainbow Warriors 7-1 in the second quarter.

Production slowed down again for the Bruins in the second half Saturday as they scored two goals in each quarter. Senior attacker Molly Renner said the message from coach Adam Wright at halftime was to carry on.

“We just wanted to keep going. We weren’t going to let it down. We’re going to just keep firing,” Renner said. “We knew that our defense was what we needed to focus on, and we just kept doing that.”

Clinching the No. 1 overall seed came down to the fourth quarter, where USC narrowed its deficit to three – which would have ended UCLA’s chances at the top seed – with just 1:04 remaining.

But after redshirt junior attacker Emma Lineback earned a power play, junior center Bia Mantellato buried her shot on the 6-on-5 to put the Bruins back at the necessary margin.

Junior utility Anna Pearson scored four goals Saturday, including a first-half hat trick, while sophomore goalkeeper Lauren Steele saved two penalty shots in the third quarter.

“It gives us confidence going the other way. It really helps,” Maxson said. “The bench, they love it the most. But also the girls in the water, it gives them confidence. Lauren saves them in the end – the defense made a mistake, but she picks it up in the end. So just really the true test of team sport and team effort.”

The Bruins only had three seniors to celebrate in Renner, utility Nicole Struss and goalkeeper MJ Bailey. Although UCLA is hosting the MPSF tournament beginning Friday, the seniors still had their final regular season home game to celebrate.

“It’s been a crazy four years. It went by really fast. Definitely special to play one last time, an official home game. Exciting that we still have MPSF at home,” Struss said. “Just special to get to play for my teammates and play for the girls before me and after me, one last time officially in this pool.”

As the No. 1 overall seed, UCLA will wait a day before facing the winner between No. 4 seed California and No. 5 seed San Jose State on Saturday.