For the second day in a row, the USC women's basketball team was pushed most of the game by a lesser-seeded opponent and challenged to respond late to stay alive in the Big Ten tournament.

And for the second day in a row, the No. 2-ranked and No. 1-seeded Trojans were absolutely up to the task.

Despite trailing for most of the first three quarters, USC battled back to take a 1-point lead entering the fourth quarter and then pulled away with a run of 14 straight points in the final period on the way to an 82-70 win over No. 5-seed Michigan at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

With that, the Trojans (28-2) advance to the Big Ten tournament championship game Sunday at 1:30 p.m. PT vs. No. 2 UCLA (29-2).

The Trojans are looking for their second straight conference tournament championship after winning the Pac-12 tournament last season and are also looking to sweep the titles in their Big Ten debut after finishing first in the regular season.

"You set these goals, but making them happen is a different thing. I'm really proud of this group. It's special every single time you get to play for a championship," coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. "This is such a tough league, and to be in the championship game is an honor."

Forward Kiki Iriafen led the way for USC with 25 points and 11 rebounds while JuJu Watkins recovered from a slow start to finish with 20 points and 11 boards, scoring 11 of those points in the fourth quarter.

Syla Swords led Michigan with 26 points.

The Wolverines (22-10), who had lost 78-58 to USC in the teams' lone regular-season meeting back in late December, didn't make it easy for the Trojans on Saturday, leading by as many as 9 minutes in the second quarter, led 31-29 at halftime and held that advantage for most of the third quarter as well.

But the fourth quarter belonged to the Trojans.

The game was tied 60-60 when Watkins got into the paint and hit a short leaning shot to kick off that 14-0 run. After a Michigan miss, Malia Samuels tossed in an off-balance layup high off the glass and drew the foul, hitting the ensuing free throw for a 65-60 lead.

Following a Wolverines airball -- as they shot just 7 of 21 overall in the fourth quarter and 0 of 6 on 3-pointers -- Watkins got to the foul line and knocked down two more free throws.

After another Michigan miss, freshman Avery Howell delivered the dagger with a 3-pointer and on the next possession a fastbreak layup and free throw for 6 of her 11 points.

Watkins then capped the run with a free throw for a 74-60 lead with 3:21 remaining, and the game would get no closer than 8 points the rest of the way.

"They put you under duress, so we had to figure it out. I thought we got to our mismatches, I thought Kiki was an absolute beast," Gottlieb said. "They're going to run her around on screens, but they've got to deal with guarding her in every which way that she's effective. I thought Ju showed a ton of poise, and we are a team. So everyone stepped up. Malia Samuels was great. Our veteran leadership really showed out, and we knocked down 3s when we needed to."

Watkins (who had 31 points and 10 rebounds in the quarterfinals vs. Indiana) and Iriafen (21 points and 10 boards Friday) have delivered the star power, but Gottlieb emphasized how important the rest of the Trojans' depth has been.

Kennedy Smith had 9 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks despite playing through pain and having to check herself out of the game at one point, center Rayah Marshall had 9 points on 4-of-6 shooting after missing the last game due to illness, Howell chipped in those 11 points and Samuels had 8 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals.

"The way that we're constructed I think we've really honed our identity. We know how good our stars are, but we have everyone else who is owning their role," Gottlieb said. "Kennedy Smith went out with cramps because she plays 94 feet of this court and is an incredible defender. And I thought Rayah's leadership coming off of her illness -- we're a team and we need everybody to do what we intend to do. But we also know we have two players on the court that other people really can't guard with one other player."

So now it's one more showdown with rival UCLA. The Trojans are responsible for the Bruins' only two losses this season -- a 71-60 USC win at Galen Center on Feb. 13 and an 80-67 USC win at Pauley Pavilion on March 1.

The Trojans can make it a clean sweep of both the rivalry series this year and the Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles with one more win before turning the focus to their national championship goals.