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UCLA Beats USC 73-60 in First Round of Pac-12 Tournament

Mar 2, 2022
Jaelynn Penn

Las Vegas – No. 7 seed UCLA pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat No. 10 seed USC 73-60 in the first round of the Pac-12 Women's Basketball Tournament at Michelob ULTRA Arena. The win was UCLA's third of the season against its crosstown rival, and it advanced the Bruins to the quarterfinals against No. 2 seed Oregon on Thursday at 6pm.

UCLA (14-11) had four players in double-figure scoring, led by IImar'I Thomas, who scored 18. Angela Dugalić recorded her first career double-double with a career-high-tying 13 points and a career-best 12 rebounds. Charisma Osborne added 14 points and five rebounds, and Jaelynn Penn had 11 points and seven rebounds. Jordan Sanders led USC (12-16) with 18 points.

The Bruins played a tight first quarter, shooting just 29% from the field but then exploded in the second quarter with a 17-4 scoring run that gave them a 33-20 lead with 2:04 to play in the half. Dugalić keyed the Bruin run, scoring seven-straight points for UCLA, including a steal and fast break layup and a three-point basket. USC came back late in the quarter, however, with a 6-0 run over the last 1:22 to trim UCLA's lead to just seven at the half, 33-26.

In the third quarter, USC cut the lead to one, 37-36, before an Osborne and-1 pushed UCLA's lead back up to four, 40-36. Another and-1, this one by Thomas to make it 46-40, quelled a USC run that had put the Trojans within three, but the Trojans ended the quarter with six unanswered points to tie the score at 46.

A long jumper by Penn started a 12-2 Bruin run to turn a 48-48 tie into a 60-50 UCLA lead. Penn had seven points and an assist during that run, and Dugalić closed the run with another three-pointer, giving the forward the double-double. UCLA continued to build on the lead, going up by 16 after an and-1 by Thomas.