Learn.
That's the lesson Lindsay Gottlieb and her young USC squad want to take away from Saturday's much-ballyhooed matchup at Pauley Pavilion against crosstown rival UCLA. The game, which took place in front of a near-capacity crowd of 13,659 fans, pitted the sixth-ranked Trojans against the second-ranked Bruins.
Both teams entered their first game of Pac-12 play undefeated, so the back-and-forth battle that ensued in what ended as a 71-64 victory for the Bruins was no surprise.
The Trojans (10-1, 0-1 Pac-12) looked stunned to open the game with their rival jumping out to a 12-point lead with 2 minutes to play in the first quarter. However, that was when star freshman JuJu Watkins dished out a punch of her own leading a 9-0 run that pulled USC within 3 at the end of the first 10-minute segment.
It was that type of matchup.
So, Gottlieb was not shocked when USC eventually gained and then relinquished its lead.
"Especially going down early, the way we battled back, the character factor I think for us was really high," the USC head coach said. "And, I think we're gonna look back at the film and have so many, so many things we can do better, which is really a positive thing. In terms of how we feel, I'm really proud of our effort and our fight.
"We gotta get better, and now the focus goes onto the next 17 of these things in this league."
It's all part of the growing pains with this team led by its hometown star. Watkins finished her night with a game-high 27 points to go with 11 rebounds, and probably would have maxed out all 40 minutes if not for a cramp that sidelined her late.
Watkins has become an attraction for the Trojans. She leads the conference in scoring, and Saturday's matchup against the Bruins presented her with an opportunity to be in the spotlight against a premier opponent.
She delivered. Watkins didn't get her team the victory, but she understands that growing and developing will come with its fair share of hurdles.
"I mean, of course it's not great to lose the first one," Watkins said. "It was a great game. I'm glad I got out here to compete with my team, and we fought. But, this is just a learning lesson for us to go back to Galen and figure out what we need to do to continue to improve.
"... This was an opportunity for me to learn more about myself and how I need to continue to evolve when we play teams like this."
The third quarter ultimately doomed the Trojans as they were outscored 20-14 in that frame. McKenzie Forbes helped keep USC afloat during that time, and she combined with Watkins to account for 50 of the team's points in the game.
Her 23 points on 8-of-18 shooting comes less than two weeks after the senior from Folsom scored 36 points against Long Beach State. Like her teammate and coach, Forbes views Saturday's loss as an opportunity to grow as the Trojans move into the thick of the conference season.
"We talked about it in the locker room, I think we showed a lot of grit and a lot of heart," Forbes said. "We dug a hole in the first and we kind of dug a hole in the third as well, but I think we showed a lot of fight in coming back from that. Obviously on the road, shots maybe not falling, but I felt like we stayed locked in defensively.
"I feel like we really battled on that end on the boards, just being scrappy. So, I think we can take that away as a positive."
Gottlieb pointed to the physicality of the game as being a major difference, which took some time for her squad to adjust to Saturday night. The Bruins nearly doubled up the Trojans with 26 points in the paint to 14.
UCLA (12-0, 1-0) also controlled the glass with a rebounding edge of 48-37. Bruins 6-foot-7 post player Lauren Betts came away with 6 blocks in the game and made it difficult for the Trojans to attack the basket at times.
"We play a little bit differently than them," Gottlieb said. "Like we play more with space and are perimeter oriented, and our players had a hard time moving around early on. They had to figure that out to be able to adjust."
The Trojans will return home for a three-game stretch that will wrap up with their second meeting against UCLA in just over two weeks on Jan. 14. Prior to that rematch, USC will host Oregon State (Jan. 5) and Oregon (Jan. 7).
