Los Angeles is getting front-row seats to women’s college basketball’s best.
Two top-five teams call the city home amid the sport’s rapid rise in popularity.
“It’s really great that the other school across town is really good too, so it creates more competitive spirit, especially with the fans,” said junior guard Gabriela Jaquez. “They’ve been better than us. We beat them. And so now that it’s going to be really competitive, and we’re going into the Big Ten, making a statement already will be really exciting.”
Both programs are entering their inaugural season in the Big Ten – a conference consisting of five additional top-25 teams. The Bruins and Trojans will meet for the first time Feb. 13 at the Galen Center and will meet again March 1 at Pauley Pavilion. UCLA holds the all-time record of 33-24. However, USC claimed victories in the programs’ last two matchups.
Both squads also opened their seasons with a game in Paris and recorded consecutive victories in their first two contests. No. 5 UCLA defeated No. 18 Louisville in its season opener, and No. 3 USC took down No. 19 Ole Miss. Bolstering already loaded conference schedules, UCLA will play No. 1 South Carolina, while USC will play No. 6 Notre Dame on the same weekend in November.
“There’s a lot of momentum from a lot of different angles,” said coach Cori Close. “It’s like Final Four in November here, with Notre Dame and South Carolina coming to town.”
Last season, UCLA and USC met three times. While both teams were victorious on their home courts, the Trojans defeated the Bruins in double overtime in the semifinals of the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas on March 8.
In addition to the team’s spotlight on the court, some players have risen to fame off the court. USC guard JuJu Watkins signed a multiyear contract extension with Nike and in October became the third college basketball player to sign an NIL deal with Gatorade. In 2022, UCLA junior guard Kiki Rice became Jordan Brand’s first NIL athlete, and in February, she also became the first NIL athlete to release a player-exclusive shoe.
Watkins returns for her second season with the Trojans after setting an all-time national freshman record with 920 points last season. USC has also added Stanford graduate transfer Kiki Iriafen – the 2024 Katrina McClain Award winner for the nation’s best power forward – and two-time All-Pac-12 honoree and Oregon State transfer guard Talia von Oelhoffen to its roster.
Meanwhile, Rice returns as a member of ESPN’s No. 1 recruiting class in 2022. Since 2022, the Bruins have added now-junior center Lauren Betts and 2024 forward transfers Janiah Barker and Timea Gardiner to their deep junior class. Now, UCLA has the top three recruits from 2022 in Rice, Betts and Barker.
The Trojans’ roster boasts ESPN’s No. 1 recruiting class in 2024, which features five top-100 recruits – including the Gatorade California State Player of the Year, guard Kennedy Smith. The Bruins also stood tall in the rankings as the No. 4 recruiting class – highlighted by the first female high school athlete to commit live on ESPN, forward Kendall Dudley – along with two other five-star recruits in forward Zania Socka-Nguemen and guard Avary Cain.
“There’s so many reasons to be excited about women’s basketball,” Close said. “It’s not a matter of, ‘Hey, come help us build it.’ No, we’re here – and you better not miss out.”
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