OFF AND RUNNING
UCLA’s Charisma Osborne shoots against Khloe Lemon of California Baptist during Saturday’s NCAA Tournament game.
LOS ANGELES >> One rainy spring Saturday in Los Angeles. Two college basketball arenas. A grand total of 17,227 fans on hand to see victories for the home teams by a combined 61 points. A good day, a successful day. But there’s this quote, from a famous L.A. philosopher: Job’s not finished.
Sure, the sun came out while 8,386 gathered at Galen Center to see the No. 1-seeded USC women’s basketball team cruise against No. 16 Texas A&MCorpus Christi, 87-55 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. And the sun went down as 8,841 at Pauley Pavilion watched No. 2 UCLA figure out No. 15 California Baptist, 84-55.
What more could anyone ask for — except more?
“I do you have one last thing,” UCLA coach Cori Close said before stepping down from the dais Saturday, one song into her eighth Big Dance with the Bruins. “Nine thousand here today — can we beat that Monday? … Let’s keep the buzz going and pack this place Monday.”
She’s right, about the buzzing. Both first-round games were so electric, those crowds so loud — despite the lopsided scores — I’d understand if people woke up to ringing in their ears, some tingling in their souls.
Women’s basketball is catching everywhere, we know. Record attendance, record viewership, and L.A. hasn’t been too cool to get with it. No, L.A. is with it.
JuJu Watkins’ No. 12 jersey has become a staple at Trojans’ games, but I must have spotted at least 45 No. 45 T-shirts during a lap around the concourse at halftime, Kayla Padilla’s people — family, friends,