JuJu Watkins is used to feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders. She’d been raised on the basketball court in that kind of pressure cooker, shouldering whatever burden was asked of her otherworldly talent. When the moment calls for it, Watkins doesn’t hesitate in seizing the moment.

Those moments came one after another in thrilling succession Thursday, asking more and more of Watkins, who just kept answering. She carried USC through a shooting slump, not only pacing the Trojans offense with a stunning 38 points but energizing their defense, too, swatting one shot after another, eight in total.

But when those moments finally reached a crescendo in the final minutes of one of the most consequential women’s basketball matchups this season, Watkins wasn’t alone in lifting USC to a 71-60 victory that did what no one else could — defeat top-ranked UCLA.

It was the first time USC upset a No. 1 team since its 1983 national title win over Louisiana Tech, and the first time the Trojans beat a No. 1 team at home. That it came against rival UCLA only made it sweeter.

Watkins would pour in 38 points in an unforgettable performance, carrying the Trojans most of the way. But in those final minutes, her teammates helped finish the job.

First it was Avery Howell, knocking down her only bucket of the game from three-point range to seize the lead. Then it was Clarice Akunwafo, swatting a pass that forced a critical turnover with under four minutes left.

When Watkins blocked UCLA star Lauren Betts with less than three minutes remaining, she took off for the other end, ready to finish at the basket. Instead, she passed to Kiki Iriafen, who made an easy lay-in to put the game away. For Iriafen, it was only her third bucket of the night.

USC’s defense was no slouch, either, down the stretch, with UCLA hitting just two of its last 19 shots.

Betts did all she could to will the Bruins to victory. USC swarmed the paint from the start to stop her, swallowing up any entry pass that came near her. It worked for a while, as she took just four shots in the first half.

USC’s Kiki Iriafen grabs a loose ball in front of UCLA’s Gabriela Jaquez in the first quarter Thursday.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

UCLA kept feeding its 6-foot-7 stalwart, and Betts seemed to find her footing in the paint. But by the fourth quarter, USC ratched up its defense again.

Watkins made her presence known early, determined to shake off what had been the worst slump of her Trojan tenure. After missing her first 11 shots against Ohio State on Saturday, Watkins pulled up confidently from the top of the arc early and sank a three. She scored the next time down, too. Then, without hesitation, she pulled up deep again on a third straight possession, sinking another three-pointer.

Any semblance of a shooting slump had seemingly washed away in the rainy L.A. night, as Watkins hit five more from deep in the first half. She hit a silky smooth turnaround jumper. She drove coast-to-coast on a lay-in.

Nothing or no one seemed capable of stopping Watkins, who appeared, for a stretch to be operating on a different plane, impervious to whatever the Bruins threw at her. She scored 25 in the first half, carrying the scoring as USC fired out to a significant early lead.

But by the second quarter, Watkins had cooled off from her scorching start. UCLA quickly climbed back and caught fire itself, mounting its own lead that the Bruins would carry into the fourth quarter.

It wouldn’t last, as Watkins got a little help from her friends in securing one of the biggest wins in recent memory at USC.