No. 2 UCLA women beat USC to polish off undefeated Big Ten season
LOS ANGELES — The No. 2 UCLA women’s basketball team achieved a perfect Big Ten season on Sunday evening by beating USC 73-50 in front of a sold-out Galen Center.
The Bruins (27-1 overall, 17-0 Big Ten) are the first to achieve the feat since Maryland did so in the 2014-15 season, and Chralisse Leger-Walker was at the forefront of the effort.
Leger-Walker scored 20 points on 62% shooting from the field and added six rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Lauren Betts had 15 rebounds as the Bruins beat the Trojans on the boards 47-22.
Jazzy Davidson was USC’s leading scorer with 12 points, and Kennedy Smith added 11 points. Laura Williams was the leading rebounder with seven boards.
UCLA cruised to a 10-point lead in the first quarter, playing with intent at its own pace to slow down the excessive energy that the Trojans (17-11, 9-8) were attacking the game with. By doing so, the Bruins were able to pass with fluidity on the outside and use their height advantage to repeatedly get rebounds and create scoring opportunities on the inside.
The Bruins were winning the rebounding battle 18-11 at halftime and scored 16 of their points in the paint during that time.
USC did its best to make Betts, a 6-foot-7 center, uncomfortable by sending in double teams to keep her from getting easy layups. Although Betts still found her shots, it was Leger-Walker who had the biggest haul of the opening half.
The graduate guard hit 4 of 7 shots from the field and 2 of 4 shots from beyond the arc to contribute a team-high 10 points in that timeframe.
She and Gianna Kneepkins hit back-to-back 3 pointers midway through the second quarter for a 25-17 lead. USC’s Kennedy Smith made two free throws afterward, but Kneepkins made a pass to Gabriela Jaquez for another 3-pointer to keep the Bruins comfortably ahead.
The Trojans had another boost of energy at the start of the second half, and Kara Dunn made two 3-pointers as part of a 9-0 scoring run that closed the gap to 40-31 and forced UCLA to call a timeout.
But the Bruins recollected, and the flow state returned on the other side of the timeout. Jaquez and Leger-Walker both sank three’s to get their team offensively moving again, and UCLA closed out the frame by scoring seven unanswered points.
The 10 final minutes of the game that stood between the Bruins and a historic season were a breeze. They controlled the game, seemingly sending in players at will to score in the midrange as well as the paint.
UCLA added 16 points to finish out the game and position itself for a strong postseason.
Both teams will move on to the Big Ten Tournament, which is slated for March 4-8 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Beyond that, Selection Sunday is set for Sunday, March 15. ESPN’s bracketology currently has UCLA projected as a No. 1 seed and USC as a No. 8 seed. If the prediction comes true, UCLA will be dealt a top seed for the second season in a row after being named the No. 1 overall seed last season.