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basketball, Bruins, college basketball, Crosstown Rivalry, Crosstown Rivalry Basketball, Exposition Park, Galen Center, Pauley Pavilion, Trojans, UCLA, UCLA Bruins, UCLA Women's Basketball, University of California Los Angeles, University of Southern California, USC, USC Trojans, USC Women's Basketball, Westwood, Women of Troy, Women's Basketball
UCLA’s Londynn Jones (#3) driving on USC’s McKenzie Forbes (#25) during their first Crosstown Rivalry Clash of the season. Photo courtesy of twitter.com
ON THE SECOND TO LAST DAY OF 2023,
THE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TEAMS FROM THE TWO LARGEST INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING IN SO CAL HELD A HISTORICALLY EPIC CROSSTOWN RIVALRY CLASH AT UCLA’S PAULEY PAVILION.
AND I WAS THERE.
In case you missed it because you were too caught up in the College Football Playoff games or some New Year’s Eve revelry in general…
In late November, when both UCLA’s and USC’s women’s basketball teams found themselves off to great starts and on a collision course to clash for the first time in the 2023-24 season at Pauley Pavilion,
I knew I had to be there.
Especially when I found that with undefeated records and ranks of second (UCLA) and sixth (USC), this particular Crosstown Rivalry game was the first time that,
- Those Bruins and Trojans have met while undefeated – EVER!
- Those Bruins and Trojans have met while both teams were ranked since 1985, and…
- Those Bruins and Trojans have met while both teams were ranked in the top ten since 1981!
For perspective, I was in the eighth grade when that happened!
I was fully aware of the historical significance of this game and how it would give a big boost to women’s basketball in general, being that with the Lakers, the Clippers, and the male basketball counterparts at both ‘SC and UCLA having rather mediocre years to date,
It was quite clear that those Lady Bruins, especially after what unfolded at Pauley Pavilion that Saturday night, were the best basketball team in So Cal with those Women of Troy clearly So Cal’s second best hoops squad.
At least for now.
So there I was standing in a very long line outside of Pauley that chilly-with-a-threat-of-rain Saturday afternoon with 13,658 other fans – the largest crowd to ever see a women’s basketball game at UCLA and (I’m sure) anywhere else in So Cal – roughly 90% of them members of Bruin Nation while the remaining 10% were from the Trojan Family, feeling a little disappointed that I hadn’t got there earlier but also thinking as the line stretched past the Wooden Center, me standing in front the statue of the greatest coach in the history of sports;
(That’s John Wooden for all those who had spent the past sixty years under a rock on Mars)
“It could have been worse.”
JuJu Watkins, USC’s phenomenal freshman star and this season’s top recruit who’s lived up to the hype so far. Photo courtesy of twitter.com
McKenzie Forbes (#25), who scored 23 points on Saturday. Photo courtesy of twitter.com
THEY PAVED THE WAY: UCLA women’s basketball alumnae celebrating the Bruins’ legacy at halftime. Photo courtesy of twitter.com
Bruins celebrating a key moment in their Crosstown Rivalry Clash. Photo courtesy of twitter.com
I made it to Pauley and my seat behind and to the side of the baseline, and settled in to not only see if this #2 vs #6 clash would live up to the hype,
But also if those Bruins in particular – me being a UCLA alum and all – were truly legit in my mind, or a mere fraud.
To put it simply,
That Bruin-Trojan clash was very successful in living up to the hype it generated, with them being undefeated and ranked in the nation’s top six.
Everyone in blue and gold, as well as cardinal and gold, was appropriately pumped with a DJ spinning tunes and a host talking things up throughout the contest.
AS FOR THE GAME ITSELF…
As UCLA scored the first eight points and twelve out of the game’s first 14 points, only to see ‘SC take a brief lead before the Bruins took a one-point lead at halftime,
Then stepping up their defense and hitting some CLUTCH shots in the second half, making Bruin Nation happy and proud with their 71-64 triumph,
As much as I was appropriately glad over a UCLA team beating ‘SC, there were three things that were prominent in my mind after it all ended,
- As well as they played, I felt those Bruins could have played better as they missed way too many easy lay-ups in the first half, letting those Trojans into the game after taking their initial ten-point lead
- Two USC players, JuJu Watkins and McKenzie Forbes, scored fifty of their team’s 64 points while there were four UCLA players in double figures, led by Londynn Jones’ 21 points – which meant that the Bruins were more balanced and have more balance in their scoring, as well as more depth.
and…
- While Bruin Nation should be ecstatic over the win – I know I was – they should also keep in mind that there will be a rematch between those two crosstown rivals at the Galen Center on USC’s campus, on January 14th.
As sure as I’m typing this,
That Galen Center will be packed to capacity, much like Pauley Pavilion was.
And with them having lost to the Bruins, those Trojans will now have a factor that will very much play into their favor…
REVENGE.
Which is why that Trojan Family will be as hyped as the Bruin Nation was,
And which was why I was telling fellow Bruins to enjoy the win, but remember the upcoming rematch.
As such,
In stating the obvious, I had a good time watching my alma mater’s women’s basketball team prove themselves to me;
It was a very nice way to close 2023.
And of course it should go without saying that the rematch on the 14th of this month will probably attract more attention than the first clash was.
A great shot of the record 13,659 that witnessed the recent women’s basketball version of the Crosstown Rivalry clash; I can see me in the lower left hand corner wearing a blue baseball cap! Photo courtesy of twitter.com