Women of Troy get revenge against UCLA

After falling to the Bruins at Pauley Pavilion in their prior matchup, the now No. 25 Women of Troy knew that they needed to perform better in order to defeat their crosstown rival. They did just that in a 71-68 win over No. 15 UCLA at the Galen Center Sunday night.

After a slow first half, the Trojans’ offense performed much better in the second half as they began to pound the ball inside more with Temi Fagbenle, who had a team-high 20 points, and Kristen Simon, who finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds. UCLA had no answer for the two as they attacked the rim much more frequently.

Fagbenle was unstoppable one-on-one as she beat her defender with a variety of moves, including a beautiful spin that extended the Trojan lead to double-digits early in the fourth quarter. Simon used her strength and craftiness to either draw fouls or finish strong at the rim.

With five minutes left and USC holding a 14-point lead following a jumper by Fagbenle, it felt like the game was wrapped up. However, the Bruins came storming back with a run of their own and cut the lead to three when the Bruins’ Kari Korver — cousin of Atlanta Hawks sharpshooter Kyle Korver — hit a three-pointer to narrow the gap to three with eight seconds left on the clock. However, Jordan Adams hit two free throws on the following possession after being intentionally fouled to seal the victory for USC.

“It was our job to give a better effort and be more focused in this game at home, and I think we did that,” coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke said.

UCLA came into the game as the tenth highest scoring team in the nation. However, it was held well below its season average as USC used a combination of pesky perimeter defense and exceptional interior defense to limit the Bruins to 31.2 percent shooting from the field — a major improvement from the 49.2 percent in their prior contest at UCLA.

Jordin Canada finished with 26 points and seven assists for the Bruins, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Trojans and Fagbenle, who finished with 20 points, including nine points during a crucial 11-2 run in the fourth quarter. Adams, who did not play in the previous matchup against the Bruins due to injury, finished with 13 points, including six crucial free throws in the final 1:17.

“[Fagbenle] is everything we need her to be whenever we need it,” Cooper-Dyke said. “That’s the type of player she is and that’s the type of player we need to beat good teams like UCLA.”

Both teams struggled offensively in the first half. USC shot 30.3 percent while turning the ball over eight times and UCLA shot 23.7 percent while shooting 55.6 percent at the charity stripe.

This was UCLA’s first loss to an unranked opponent this season.

With the victory, USC is now 14-2 overall and has broken into the top 25 rankings for the first time since 2011. This was its first victory over a ranked opponent in three tries, after losing to Oregon State at home and losing to UCLA at Pauley Pavilion.

The Pac-12 is arguably the toughest conference overall, boasting five teams ranked in the top 25, four teams ranked in the top 15, and only one team with an overall record below .500. If the Women of Troy continue to improve, however, they will be a force to be reckoned with in March.

For her role in the two wins this week, Fagbenle has been named the Pac-12 Player of the Week.