The Bruins have a chance to sweep the Trojans for the third consecutive season.
UCLA women’s basketball (9-8, 2-3 Pac-12) will battle its crosstown rival USC (10-6, 0-5) at Pauley Pavilion on Sunday. USC will be the first unranked opponent UCLA has seen since Jan. 4.
“(USC has) really good penetrators to the right,” said coach Cori Close. They (also) have really good physical rebounders and they’re athletic, and they like to pressure some.”
In the first contest between the two schools this season, USC forced UCLA to six turnovers in the first quarter. The Trojans took an 11-point lead into the half.
The Bruins, however, dominated the third quarter, shooting 57.9 percent from the field and putting up 31 points to overcome a 13-point deficit and win the game 72-65.
Sophomore forward Michaela Onyenwere, who has scored in double-figures over the past five games, said the team needs to stop the Trojans from dictating the flow of the game.
“I think we learned from last time that we weren’t doing well. … They were kind of just getting whatever they wanted,” Onyenwere said. “So for Sunday’s game, it’s just knowing what they are going to do, … like stopping them earlier and not letting them execute their game plan.”
The Trojans are shooting 40 percent from the field this season, but only average 6.5 3-pointers per game. In is last outing against Oregon State, USC went just 1-of-14 from beyond the arc.
Close said the Bruins will have to balance defensively in order to force the Trojans into taking contested shots.
“If we are going to take away their drives and their inside game, they are sometimes going to get outside shots,” Close said. “But they need to be out-of-rhythm shots and not out of their comfortable offense.”
USC guard Minyon Moore led the team in scoring with 18 points the last time it faced UCLA. Moore has scored in double figures in four of USC’s past five games, and leads the team in assists, averaging 6.1 helpers per game.
Her sister, guard Mariya Moore, leads the Trojans in 3-point shots. She recently boasted a career-high of 36 points in USC’s loss to California on Jan. 6, where she sank a season-high seven 3-pointers.
Redshirt freshman Lindsey Corsaro said containing the Moore sisters will require a team effort.
“(Moore) at the point guard has been getting downhill really well, so I think we need to work as a team to just stop her penetration,” Corsaro said. “I think if we can contain that and communicate on defense, we should be good to go.”
Despite facing some challenging opponents this month, the Bruins said that those matchups were positive learning experiences that will help them prepare for Sunday’s game.
“I think in both games combined we learned the importance of defensive rebounding,” Corsaro said. “And I thought even from Oregon State to Oregon, we grew in our defense a lot so now it’s just kind of putting the pieces together and becoming a more consistent rebounding team.”