Pac-12 women’s basketball has a big opening night in Southern California. No. 10 UCLA and USC enter the first rivalry game on the schedule with nearly identical records and, thanks to new faces, there’s no telling what we could see Thursday at the Galen Center.

“It’s a really fun year where we’re 9-0 and they’ve had an incredible start to the year and they’re top 10 at this point,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “That brings the intrigue in.”

The Trojans (9-0) have a nearly overhauled roster after adding eight new players. The Bruins (9-1) have leaned on fresh talent as well in the form of its heralded freshman class.

UCLA forward Christeen Iwuala was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week after logging 10 points and eight rebounds in her return from injury in a 64-41 win over Cal State Fullerton on Dec. 10.

Fellow Bruins freshmen Kiki Rice and Londynn Jones have also been flourishing under the leadership of senior guard and leading scorer Charisma Osborne, whose 19.7 points per game are fourth in Pac-12 scoring. Rice is the team’s second-leading scorer at 12.3 points per game to go with five rebounds per game.

“I thought the defense, specifically of Charisma, and Kiki and Londynn, was disruptive but disciplined and that’s something we’ve been really searching for,” UCLA coach Cori Close said after the Cal State Fullerton game.

As a team, the Bruins, whose only loss has come to No. 1 South Carolina, rank second in the Pac-12 in rebounding and the defense has limited opponents to 59.1 points per game and averaged 8.4 steals and 4.8 blocks per game.

Defense held the team together against Cal State Fullerton, a contest in which UCLA had 27 turnovers.

“I think USC is going to try to force a chaotic game and if we’re not disciplined and having purpose together, that’s going to be a challenge,” Close said.

USC forward Kadi Sissoko could be at the front of that chaos. At 6-foot-2, she paces the team in scoring at 16.4 points per game and her 59.8 shooting percentage ranks 25th in the nation. She also pulls down 6.2 rebounds per game.

Although she’s a graduate transfer from Minnesota and originally from Paris, it was easy for Sissoko to buy into the crosstown rivalry.

“They’re fighting for a winning game and it’s kind of similar to me back home when we play against Spain,” Sissoko said. “It’s always a big game, so I really like that. Having all this energy, all the fans involved, just people coming and supporting us. I love that.”

The Trojans are trying to break a six-game losing streak against the Bruins and are striving for an upset, but Sissoko said they’re doing the work “behind closed doors” and dialing on the fundamentals as they prepare for UCLA.

Rayah Marshall has been an anchor since arriving at USC last season. The sophomore averages 3.29 blocks per game, which ranks fourth nationally, leads her team in rebounds with 8.6 per game and is the third-leading scorer at 12.1 ppg.

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Although this game could have some interesting, never-before-seen matchups, both programs have a shared goal of using this rivalry to put Southern California women’s basketball on the map.

“Both of us, I believe, want L.A. basketball and this USC-UCLA rivalry to be one of the most competitive, best in the country,” Gottlieb said. “And we’re both working towards that.”

UCLA (9-1) at USC (9-0)

When: 7 p.m. Thursday

Where: Galen Center

TV: Pac-12 Los Angeles