No. 2 USC Women’s Water Polo Takes Out No. 3 UCLA 13-10 In BKI Semifinals

Saturday, February 25

Irvine, Calif.

5:15 PM

USC

13-0

UCLA

13-2

UCLA

Southern California

Tilly Kearns looks to pass in a game vs. UC Irvine

Photo by: Katie Chin

No. 2 USC Women’s Water Polo Takes Out No. 3 UCLA 13-10 In BKI Semifinals

February 25, 2023 | Women's Water Polo

Box Score BKI TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

Tilly Kearns scored four in the Trojans’ second win of the season over the Bruins to move into tomorrow’s title match.

IRVINE, CALIF. — The No. 2 USC women's water polo team never trailed in tacking up a 13-10 win over No. 3 UCLA to tally the Trojans' second win over the Bruins this season and take the ticket to tomorrow's title match at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational. The win puts USC up against top-ranked Stanford tomorrow in the tournament's championship game at 1 p.m in Irvine. USC is now 12-0 overall on the year.

USC's Tilly Kearns started the game with an assist and would tally her fourth goal of the day to wrap USC's scoring in the Trojans' victory over the Bruins. UCLA pulled even early, but USC got back on top soon after on a score from Morgan Netherton, and Alejandra Aznar followed with her first of three goals on the day to get USC up 3-1 in the first frame. USC gripped a 5-2 lead after eight minutes of action on scores from five different Trojans.

UCLA would stay within one or two goals of the Trojans through the second and third periods, with USC leading it 8-6 entering the fourth. Again the Bruins pulled within one, down 8-7 early in the fourth, only to see USC fire off three straight scores — two from Kearns and one from Paige Hauschild — to put the Bruins off the scent. Aznar's third and Kearns' fourth helped USC build out a 13-9 lead that UCLA would trim to 13-10 with 35 seconds remaining to round out the evening's action as a solid Trojan victory.

NEXT:
USC will face Stanford in tomorrow's (Feb. 26) championship game at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational at Anteater Aquatics Complex in Irvine.

NOTABLE:
- Tilly Kearns' four goals today marked a season high.
- Kearns now leads the team with nine multiple-goal games this season.
- Alejandra Aznar's three goals today also marked her season high.
- With one goal today, Bayley Weber moves up to rank No. 13 all-time in career scoring at USC with 170 goals.

BARBARA KALBUS INVITATIONAL

SEMIFINAL
#2 USC 13, #3 UCLA 10
Feb. 25, 2023 | Anteater Aquatics Complex (Irvine, Calif.)
USC 5 - 2 - 1 - 5 = 13
UCLA 2 - 3 - 1 - 4 = 10

SCORING:
USC — Tilly Kearns 4, Alejandra Aznar 3, Grace Tehaney, Paige Hauschild, Bayley Weber, Morgan Netherton, Honnie Vandeweghe-O'Shea, Fanni Muzsnay.
UCLA — Ayala 3, Lineback 2, Drake 2, Smith, Johnson, Green.

SAVES: Carolyne Stern (USC) 8, Georgia Phillips (UCLA) 4.