USC Trojans advance to Big Ten Tournament final against rival UCLA Bruins
Once again, the USC Trojans got it done in the fourth quarter. The Trojans used a 14-0 run to break a 60-60 tie with 6:29 remaining and ultimately coast to an 82-70 win over the Michigan Wolverines in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament.
But after struggling to put away Indiana in the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Trojans again found themselves in a real game well into the second quarter against the No. 5-seed Wolverines.
The Trojans scored just nine points in the first quarter as USC shot 5-for-17 from the floor and turned the ball over four times. Michigan took a 31-29 lead into the halftime locker room as JuJu Watkins finished the first 20 minutes with three turnovers and four points on 2-of-9 shooting. USC had nearly as many turnovers (nine) as made baskets (12).
The second half was a different story as USC shot 60.7% from the field and both Watkins and Kiki Iriafen turned it on. Watkins scored 16 of her 20 points in the second half and Iriafen scored 17 of her team-high 25. Both recorded double-doubles while grabbing 11 rebounds each (seven of them came on the offensive end for Watkins).
Freshman Avery Howell scored eight of her 11 points during that strong fourth-quarter close by the Trojans. Rayah Marshall returned to action after missing the last game due to illness. She scored nine points and grabbed three rebounds.
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The win sets up a third matchup this season between the USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins. The Bruins got into the final with a dominant showing against No. 3 seed Ohio State in a 75-46 win. UCLA beat Nebraska 85-74 in the quarterfinals.
USC went 2-0 against UCLA this season, winning most recently 80-67 at Pauley Pavilion on March 1. Watkins scored 30 points in that game after scoring 38 in a win over the Bruins at Galen Center earlier in the year.
USC is looking for back-to-back conference tournament titles after the Trojans won the Pac-12 Tournament as the No. 2 seed over No. 1 Stanford, 74-61.
