Big Ten Women's Basketball Championship: How to Watch and Game Thread - #2 Seed UCLA Bruins vs. #1 Seed Southern Cal Trojans
The only team which beat the UCLA women’s basketball team during the regular season was Southern Cal. To make matters worse, the Trojans didn’t just defeat the Bruins at Pauley Pavilion to finish the regular season, they embarassed them.
It gave the Trojans the Big Ten regular season championship and the #1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
After both teams won their semifinal games yesterday, the Big Ten Tournament Championship game will be between these two teams, and we could very well be seeing a preview of the NCAA Women’s Championship Game as well.
The fact is that beating your archrival once is hard. Doing it twice is even harder. Three times? Almost never happens. Four times could cost a head coach her job. Let’s hope it doesn’t get to that. The Bruins can take the first step towards evening the score this afternoon in Indianapolis.
Last Time Out
Yesterday afternoon, the Bruins totally crushed THE Ohio State University, 75-46. The Buckeyes did not look anything like a team which had earned the #3 seed in the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament.
The closest Ohio State came to ever having a lead was when they tied it 2-2 in the first minute of the game. From there, it was all Bruins.
By the end of the first quarter, UCLA had jumped out to a 22-8 lead. By halftime, they were up 44-21. As a result of that big half, Londynn Jones’ three-pointer, UCLA’s first basket of the third quarter, proved to be the shot that won the game for the Bruins.
Of course, UCLA didn’t stop there.
They went on to score another 28 points in the final 18:52 of the game as they cruised into today’s championship game.
Southern Cal Trojans
Earlier in the day, Southern Cal didn’t have it quite as easy as UCLA did. The Trojans trailed 15-12 at the end of the first quarter and they trailed 31-29 at the half.
Southern Cal overcame that deficit in the third, but they still only led by a point, 53-52, at the end of the third quarter. In fact, with 6:29 to go, the game was tied 60-60.
And, then, the Wolverines went cold. Over the next 3:08, Southern Cal went on a 14-0 run to take a 74-60 lead. That proved to be all the Trojans needed and then went on to win 82-70.
Analysis
Eight days ago, it became abundantly clear that the Bruins have a Southern Cal problem when they were beaten by a score of 80-67 in Pauley Pavilion.
The only indication that things could be different today was the way that the Bruins completely and totally destroyed Ohio State yesterday.
UCLA absolutely needs to play with that same intensity today. If they can do that, they will have a chance to win today. Without it, they will likely lose to the Trojans for the third time this season.
Listen to the Game With TMB
Today’s game will be broadcast on CBS with Lisa Byington, Julianne Viani-Braen, and AJ Ross on the call. Of course, you can choose to listen to Dave Marcus call the game for the Bruins by listening online. To do that, just right-click on the link below so that you can open up another tab and have it going while you chat in the comments below. Listen to today’s game online.
This is your UCLA women’s basketball vs. Southern Cal Trojans Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament Championship game thread. Here’s how to watch, listen and stream today’s game:
Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament Championship
Opponents: #2 Seed UCLA Women’s Basketball (29-2, 16-2) vs. #1 seed Southern Cal Trojans (28-2, 16-1)
Series Record: Southern Cal leads, 54-53
When: 1:30 pm PT, Sunday, March 8, 2025
Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
TV: CBS with Lisa Byington, Julianne Viani-Braen, and AJ Ross
Live Stream: CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports and Paramount+ apps
Online Audio: uclabruins.com
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast
Tournament Notes:
UCLA
Go Bruins!!!
Thanks again for supporting The Mighty Bruin. Your paid subscriptions make this site possible. Questions, comments, story ideas, angry missives and more can be sent to @TheMightyBruin on Twitter.
Coach Wooden is smiling down tonight
Men are next