BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) Freshman JuJu Watkins scored 29 points to lead No. 15 Southern California to a 79-69 victory over California on Sunday. The Golden Bears got up by as many as 13 points in the second quarter and took a three-point lead into the fourth, but were unable to hold on for the win.
Watkins made 12 of 27 shots from the floor with two 3-pointers for the Trojans (16-4, 6-4 Pac-12 Conference). She added five assists, four rebounds, four steals and blocked two shots.
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Watkins came in averaging 27.2 points per game, second in the nation only to the 32.4 average of Iowa's Caitlin Clark. Watkins was coming off a season-best 51-point performance, scoring all but 16 points in the Trojans' 67-58 victory over No. 4 Stanford.
McKenzie Forbes totaled 12 points, five rebounds and five assists for USC. Kaitlyn Davis pitched in with 10 points and eight rebounds.
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Ioanna Krimili hit five 3-pointers and scored 21 to lead the Golden Bears (13-10, 3-8). Krimili’s third 3-pointer in the first quarter gave her 2,002 career points, joining 16 other active players in the country to have reached the 2,000-point milestone. The game also marked her 24th career game with at least five made threes – good for second in the country behind Caitlyn Clark. Marta Suárez contributed 18 points and nine rebounds.
Krimili hit three 3-pointers and scored 11 to help California jump out to a 26-15 lead after one quarter.
Watkins sank 5 of 9 shots with two 3-pointers, scoring 14 points in the second quarter to get USC within 39-37 at halftime.
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Krimili opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer and Suarez followed with a layup to push the Cal lead to seven. Kayla Padilla, who scored nine, answered with a 3-pointer and capped a 10-2 run with another one as USC moved in front 47-46 with six minutes left. Krimili and Suarez combined to score 17 by quarter's end and the Golden Bears took a 61-58 lead into the final period.
Davis made a layup and two free throws and Rayah Marshall and Watkins had layups in an 8-0 run to begin the fourth quarter and the Trojans never trailed again. Cal was able to get as close as five points with 2:25 remaining in the game but just fell short.
USC returns home to play Arizona State on Friday. California heads to Washington State for a Friday matchup.
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