LOS ANGELES - When USC senior guard Kara Dunn spoke to the media after USC suffered the first loss of the season to UCLA on Jan. 3, she was resolute that "next time would be different."
That wasn't the case.
No. 2 UCLA (28-1, 18-0) trampled USC (17-12, 9-9) on the Women of Troy's senior night 73-50 to complete the Bruins' run of the Big Ten with an undefeated conference record for the first time in program history in the NCAA-era.
Making more history
"It feels amazing," senior guard Charlisse Leger-Walker said. "Anytime we come out and we're connected and playing together we know that we can win any game that we go and play out there."
Sunday's win epitomized everything that has made UCLA such a dominant presence in the entire basketball world and what has made the Bruins so different than even last season's team that made it all the way to the Final Four.
Each night, it's been clear that anyone could take over the game and despite star senior center Lauren Betts being held to just five points, standout performances from two of the newest Bruins and one career UCLA player powered them forward.
"Every night the rest of the way, there's going to be adversity and there's going to be someone's different night, and it might be that you struggle that night," UCLA head coach Cori Close said. "Someone else has your back and all we care about is finding a way to win together.
Transfers getting it done
Senior guard Charlisse Leger-Walker led the Bruins with 20 points, which ties her season high, while adding six rebounds and four assists.
Right behind Leger-Walker was graduate guard Gianna Kneepkens, another transfer, and senior forward Gabriela Jaquez, who both scored 14 points.
Paige Creason - The Sporting Tribune
USC Trojans guard Jazzy Davidson (9) with the ball during the women's college basketball game against the UCLA Bruins, Sunday March 1st, 2026 at Galen Center in Los Angeles, Calif.
Looking at such a lopsided score, it's obvious that UCLA outclassed USC across the board, but grabbing rebounds is really where that difference shows.
The Bruins out-rebounded the Women of Troy 47-22, with as many offensive rebounds as USC had rebounds total.
Taking accountability
It wasn't smooth sailing the entire time for the Bruins, though. The Women of Troy opened the second half with an 11-2 run that was punctuated by a three point shot from Dunn to cut UCLA's once commanding lead back down to single digits.
Close called a timeout to help the Bruins reassess, but she noticed soon after that that the players themselves were the ones communicating about the problem. It's been a goal of the Bruins to be as accountable to each other as their coach holds them to be, but seeing it in action is a massive indication of the growth they've made as a team.
"We said a lot to each other," Jaquez said. "I think that Coach Cori knew that, so she played the calmer role in that... and that's what we work on. If she's super-amped up then we've got to chill, but if we're amped up, then she can be the chill one."