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No. 9 USC took down No. 2 UCLA 73-65 in Round 2 of the Battle for Los Angeles. This was the Bruins' first loss of the season, evening things out in the matchup as the Trojans' only loss thus far came by the hands of their cross-town rivals.

"This was un-f-----g believable," USC Lindsay Gottlieb said. 

Only No. 1 South Carolina remains undefeated in women's college basketball, but the city of Angels can brag about having two of the nation's best programs. USC's revenge win Sunday breaks a nine-game losing streak to the Bruins. 

"Trojans, look around," Gottlieb said to the crowd. "They used to tell us that no one came to watch women's basketball at USC. ...

"Look at us now."

Freshman phenom JuJu Watkins led USC with 32 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and three steals. That was her ninth game scoring over 20 points and her sixth 30-point performance. A little bit of a scare arose after the game when Watkins collapsed on the floor with what appeared to be a cramp, but Gottlieb said she is doing fine. 

Watkins didn't have her best shooting night, as she went 8-for-22 from the floor, but she came in clutch by going a perfect 16-for-16 from the free throw line. McKenzie Forbes and Kayla Padilla also reached double figures for USC with 18 and 13 points, respectively.

Neither team was at full strength as USC forward/center Rayah Marshall was a late-game scratch due to an illness. UCLA's star center Lauren Betts played limited minutes and did not start the game because she was also dealing with an unspecified illness. 

Before this game, UCLA was averaging under 15 turnovers per contest, but the Bruins struggled to take care of the ball Sunday as they gave up 22 turnovers -- the same number of fields goals they converted. The Trojans scored 23 points off UCLA's mistakes.

Charisma Osborne led UCLA's efforts with 25 points, all of which came in the second half. According to UCLA coach Cori Close, the grad student guard was sick most of the week but still pushed through. 

UCLA still leads the all-time series 33-23, but it seems like the rivalry is getting a lot more competitive. USC had a breakout season last year, and the Trojans have been building off that momentum. After losing 71-64 to UCLA in December, Gottlieb said her team hates to lose but was embracing the opportunity to work on some of its weaknesses. 

The Trojans will return to the court Friday for a road game against No. 19 Utah. Things won't get any easier for UCLA, as the Bruins will be traveling to No. 5 Colorado that same day.