As No. 4 USC geared up for its second battle with the No. 2 UCLA Bruins, it was evident to Head Coach Lindsay Gottlieb and the Trojans that attempting to beat their crosstown rivals once again would be twice as arduous as their first triumph.

The Bruins (27-2, 16-2 Big Ten) were furious after their loss at Galen Center on Feb. 13 — the first blemish in a season that, up to that point, had been perfect for Head Coach Cori Close’s squad. And on top of that, this time USC (26-2, 17-1) had to do it on the road at Pauley Pavilion, where it had not won since 2019 — three seasons before Gottlieb returned to college basketball to coach the Trojans.

But Saturday night, in its 80-67 triumph over its biggest foe, USC made history in more ways than one. In addition to finally securing an evasive win in Westwood, the Trojans clinched the Big Ten regular season title in their inaugural year in the conference.

For USC, it was a dream culmination to the maiden year of both Los Angeles schools battling it out with the best of the Midwest. The Trojans snatched the Big Ten crown right out from under UCLA, lifting the trophy on the Pauley floor as chants of “We are SC” reverberated around the stadium.

“It feels great for my seniors like [centers Rayah Marshall and Clarice Akunwafo]. All week, we’ve talked about [how] they’ve never gotten a win in Pauley,” said graduate forward Kiki Iriafen in a postgame press conference. “We wanted to win this Big Ten championship, but for them to end their senior year and have a win at Pauley was extra special.”

While it was not ultimately enough to stop the Trojans from getting the brooms out, the environment inside the arena was no joke. Superstar sophomore guard JuJu Watkins got off to a hot start, putting up 23 points on 8-13 shooting in the first half, but began to cool off in the third quarter — much to the delight of the Bruin faithful.

Halfway through the third quarter, Watkins airballed one of her 11 three-point attempts. The sophomore smiled it off as she jogged back down the court, but the crowd didn’t let her forget it. A rowdy Bruin student section not only chanted “air ball” at Watkins after the miss but began screaming it at her every time she touched the ball.

Watkins was clearly somewhat affected, appearing fairly disoriented for a decent stretch of time. At one point, she stepped to the line after a hard foul and missed two straight free throws — winning free french fries at Fat Sal’s Deli for the Bruin fans. That was the loudest Pauley was all night, with the exception of the next time Watkins stepped to the line, when she also missed the first of her two attempts. At that point, security had to escort a few fans from the student section back to their seats after they began approaching the court to hurl insults at Watkins.

It was an intense moment, but Watkins sank the second free throw and followed it up with a transition bucket on USC’s next possession after a beautiful Euro step to evade a few UCLA defenders. The student section was far quieter from that point on, but the third quarter antics were still fresh in Watkins’ mind when she checked out of the game with 1:02 left and USC up 80-63.

Watkins briefly celebrated with her teammates before marching right over to the student section, giving it right back to the Bruin fans and flashing the “fours down” symbol at them — the inverse of UCLA’s “fours up” victory sign. The sophomore may have been briefly rattled by the Pauley crowd, but she got the last laugh, and continues to put together some of her best performances against the Trojans’ archrival.

“Yes, that definitely did fire me up,” Watkins said when asked if she heard the fans chanting at her. “It’s really cool. I love the atmosphere here. Even though they’re not on our side at all, I think that’s pretty fun.”

Watkins’ electric first half set the tone for USC’s performance, but it was the Trojan supporting cast that shone late and closed out the victory. Watkins scored just seven of USC’s 34 second-half points, a ratio rarely seen in any Trojan game, let alone one of this magnitude.

After struggling with foul trouble early on, Iriafen led the charge in the second half, scoring 15 points and grabbing six boards over the final 20 minutes. And it was freshman guard Avery Howell who had the signature fourth quarter moment, sinking back-to-back triples from the corner in front of USC’s bench to increase the Trojan lead to 19 with 7:38 to go.

“I didn’t say this all week because I didn’t know if they knew, but [Watkins] was so good in the first game [against UCLA], I think in the second and third quarter, the rest of our team was like 0-25,” Gottlieb said. “We have a really good team, and we’ve learned to appreciate the greatness of our stars and also value what everyone else does … And I’m just really glad that our entire team came ready to play, we need everybody.”

While Watkins’ brilliance is the foundation of the team, the 19-year-old can’t bring home a championship by herself. In that sense, Saturday’s win over UCLA was the more important one, as it displayed that the Trojan supporting cast is also ready to do battle with the nation’s best in March.

It is hard to overstate the enormity of the win for Gottlieb’s program, and sending the Bruins, who are still in the midst of a historically good season, into a total tailspin? Just an added benefit.

“We need more people that can be counted on to do their jobs,” said Close, the head coach of a team that is 27-2 and ranked second in the nation, after the game.

Just as UCLA won’t have much time to mope, the Trojans will have to wrap up their celebrations pretty quickly. The Big Ten Tournament begins Wednesday in Indianapolis, and the NCAA Tournament will kick off in less than three weeks.

“We’re not done, there’s a lot more … but I think you have to stop and recognize moments along the way or else you lose the joy of it,” Gottlieb said. “We will celebrate a Big Ten regular season title, and then we’ll get back to work and say, ‘What’s the next challenge in front of us?’”

Having secured a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament, the Trojans’ first game in Indianapolis will be Friday — when they will begin an attempt to win three games in three days and secure some more hardware. The road will be difficult, and it remains to be seen if the Bruins will once again stand in USC’s way.