Time and again, Illinois women’s basketball seems to defy expectations. After battling No. 3 UCLA and losing 70-55 in the first of a two-game Los Angeles road trip, the 25th-ranked Illini traveled across town for a matchup with JuJu Watkins and her fourth-ranked USC Trojans.

The final Saturday of February is here and the stakes are high for college basketball teams as they battle for their NCAA Tournament positions, jockey for conference title hopes and try and climb their way up the projected seeding prjections for March Madness.