Los Angeles’ two Pac-12 women’s basketball teams have carved out new identities for themselves in the regular season.
UCLA and USC enter the Pac-12 Tournament with similar seedings – the Bruins are fifth and the Trojans are sixth. The tournament starts Wednesday at Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas, providing both SoCal teams with the chance to show how far they’ve come.
A strong UCLA freshman group will make its Pac-12 Tournament debut at noon Wednesday against Arizona State.
Kiki Rice and Londynn Jones, who were part of one of the best freshman recruiting classes in the nation this season, have played in all 30 games this season. They were named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team on Tuesday.
“As freshmen, we’ve been preparing throughout the entire season,” Rice said after UCLA’s latest win over Washington. “These games are going to be a bigger stage, one and done, a lot’s on the line. But I think we’ve all put in the work this entire season to trust our body of work.”
Jones held the highest three-point percentage (37.4%) on the team, making 43 of 115 shots, and was the third-leading scorer with 9.2 points per game. Rice was second in scoring at 11.3 ppg and assists at 2.9 per game while third in rebounding with 4.7 per game.
Senior Charisma Osborne leads the Bruins (22-8, 11-7 in Pac-12) in most statistical categories, and was named All-Pac-12 for the third season Tuesday.
She’s seventh in the Pac-12 in scoring at 15.3 ppg and plays roughly 33 minutes each game. Osborne has overcome myriad challenges in her college career, from injury to playing through the COVID-19 pandemic, which has only served to enhance her leadership skills.
“We had so many consistent leaders, in Charisma, especially, who (the freshmen) could just look at her for an example of how to do everything,” Rice said. “Not every team has that.”
The Bruins beat Arizona State 82-63 in early February in their only matchup of the season. The 12th-seeded Sun Devils are led by Tyi Skinner, whose 513 points this season rank her eighth in program history.
USC (21-8, 11-7) is coming off a season of progress that saw the team earn its first AP ranking since 2016. The Trojans peaked at No. 25 behind a team that was almost entirely brand new.
Coach Lindsay Gottlieb turned a program that went 12-16 last season to 21-8 this season in just her second year. The Trojans play Oregon State at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.
“All we’re achieving right now, I think we deserve it,” graduate transfer Kadi Sissoko said after USC’s double-overtime win over Washington State on Saturday.
“We’ve all been through a lot. We’ve transferred so many times, we came with hella struggles and things going on, but we all fought like hell for all the games that we won.”
Rayah Marshall, a sophomore, has been the most consistent player over the course of those two seasons and currently ranks third in the nation with 3.42 blocks per game to go with 13 double-doubles. She’s the top rebounder in the Pac-12 at 11.5 per game.
Sissoko, at 15.6 ppg, is the team’s top scorer and ranks fifth in the conference. Destiny Littleton, another grad transfer, averages 13.9 ppg and has reached double digits in scoring in the 11 games leading up to the Pac-12 Tournament.
Marshall, Littleton and Sissoko were named to the All-Pac-12 Team on Tuesday, with Marshall earning All-Defensive Team honors.
The Trojans picked up wins over No. 11-seeded Oregon State twice this season, with the second meeting finishing in overtime. The Beavers’ Raegan Beers was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and the Sixth Player of the Year after leading all freshmen in the conference with 8.7 rebounds per game and 14 double-doubles.
After a regular season that’s familiarized Pac-12 teams with each other, Gottlieb said the intangibles are what could make the difference.
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“Everyone’s played each other a million times,” she said Saturday. “Everyone knows each other’s stuff. It’s going to be about who’s the most connected when they play. Who can make adjustments, who can find another gear, and it’s really super exciting.”
PAC-12 WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
No. 5 UCLA (22-8, 11-7) vs. No. 12 Arizona State (8-19, 1-15)
When: Noon Wednesday
No. 6 USC (21-8, 11-7) vs. No. 11 Oregon State (12-17, 4-14)
When: 8:30 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Michelob ULTRA Arena, Las Vegas
TV: Pac-12 Network