The UCLA and USC women’s basketball teams are set to play each other twice in four days and although the Trojans have dropped the last three contests to their crosstown competition, this concentrated dose of rivalry week is still intense.

“Be prepared, that’s all,” USC forward Jordyn Jenkins said.

With a new head coach at the helm, USC (9-5, 2-2 Pac-12) can make this series more competitive than in recent history, starting on Thursday at Pauley Pavilion.

Coach Lindsay Gottlieb has gotten the Women of Troy to the .500 mark in Pac-12 play, most recently achieving a comeback win against Washington. They also beat Arizona earlier this month, which was the No. 4-ranked team at the time.

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“I’ve told them all along that we should be the team whose growth trajectory is the steepest throughout the year, because everything’s new,” Gottlieb said. “And I think we’re on that path, making us dangerous now, but maybe even more dangerous as we keep going.”

Rayah Marshall, another new piece, is quickly making an impact in her freshman season. The Jan. 10 Pac-12 Freshman of the Week ranks No. 1 among freshmen with 2.42 blocks per game, and is averaging 10.3 points per game.

“She’s a smooth criminal,” Jenkins said. “She’s just smooth and she has a really nice jumper and she has a lot of talents that a lot of 6-foot-3, 6-foot-4 people don’t have.”

Jenkins leads the team in scoring with 13.1 ppg and matched a career-high 24 points in the win against Washington. Alissa Pili continues to contribute to USC in her junior year and was named to the John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 Watch List. She’s chipping in 8.8 ppg and 5.5 rpg.

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Charisma Osborne has assumed a leadership role for UCLA (7-4, 2-1 Pac-12) this season, and has the numbers to match. She’s one of four players averaging in double digits with 18.3 ppg. Right behind her is IImar’I Thomas (17.3 ppg), a graduate student in her first year with the Bruins.

The two are the No. 2 and No. 3 scorers in the Pac-12, respectively.

“We’re family. It’s a great group of girls,” Thomas said. “Every game has just been getting better and better and it’s gonna keep continuing to get better for sure.”

The Bruins had multiple games either canceled or postponed from mid-December to early January due to concerns over COVID-19, but coach Cori Close said her team has been able to adapt well to the changes. The pandemic also caused the UCLA-USC rivalry to be rescheduled to back-to-back games.

“This is an ‘I get to’ thing,” Close said. “We’ve got to cherish this and bring the intensity as well as in the competitiveness as well as the gratitude that this game deserves. It’s two really good teams that are trying to position themselves for the NCAA tournament.”

USC (9-5, 2-2 Pac-12) at UCLA (7-4, 2-1 Pac-12)

When: 6:30 p.m. Thursday

Where: Pauley Pavilion

TV: Pac-12 Network