Lindsay Gottlieb calms excitement after UCLA win: 'We're not the national champions tonight'

No. 6 USC (22-2, 11-1 Big Ten) defeated previously undefeated No. 1 UCLA (23-1, 11-1 Big Ten) 71-60 inside Galen Center on Thursday night — the Trojans best win of the season in the most electric environment.

According to head coach Lindsay Gottlieb, the Trojans used what they learned during their previous two losses against Notre Dame and unranked Iowa to fuel their way past the Bruins. Still, the USC head coach wanted her team to remain grounded while celebrating the win.

“We weren’t a terrible team after we lost to Notre Dame, and we’re not the national champions tonight,” Gottlieb said postgame. “Not when you have opportunities in front of you, it can test where you are. And the one thing I did say to them — we don’t talk about the losses a ton. But we’ve had two losses that we didn’t feel good about, and we wanted that to be a catalyst for us against the team that hadn’t had that feeling yet.”

Earning the Bruins their first loss of the season, not to mention in a rivalry game, is cause for excitement for the Trojans. Especially after outscoring UCLA 24-8 in the fourth quarter, keeping her team down to Earth could be easier said than done. However, she’s confident her team will move forward in time for their next matchup.

USC star JuJu Watkins scored 38 points to go with 11 rebounds, a career-high eight blocks and five assists to help lead her team to victory.

These two teams will meet again on March 1, this time at Pauley Pavilion for the second matchup in the two-game regular season series. According to Gottlieb, there’s a lot that can go wrong between now and then.

“We’ve got three games before that,” Gottlieb continued. “They’ll be better. We’ll be better. … Everyone will learn from the scout. We don’t expect it to get easier, but I want to take care of business until then. And then that next one when we plan, it will be the biggest game — but not before the ones that are in front of us.”

USC will remain at home for its next matchup, this time a Wednesday night matchup between the Trojans and No. 22 Michigan State. Tip-off is set for 9:30 p.m. ET and will air live on Peacock. They’ll host Illinois after that before traveling across town for their rematch against the Bruins on March 1.