Before the USC and UCLA women's basketball teams met in their much-anticipated first matchup of the season on Feb. 13, Trojans coach Lindsay Gottlieb made a hopeful statement to Bruins counterpart Cori Close that came a bit closer to fruition Sunday.

The third time was the charm for UCLA as it beat USC, 72-67, in the Big Ten Tournament championship game on Sunday. After two defeats to the Trojans earlier this season, including

Coach Cori Close challenged UCLA to arrive at the Big Ten Tournament as a tougher, more aggressive group than the one that lost to its dreaded rival, USC, last weekend.