| Women’s Basketball |
|---|
| Washington — 60 |
| UCLA — 78 |
What. A. Game.
It was the first quarter.
Washington took a 15-6 lead, and it looked like it was a large enough lead to where UCLA wouldn’t be able to come back from it. It looked like there would be a real chance that the Huskies would continue to hold their lead, and the Bruins’ season would be over.
Instead of accepting defeat, the Bruins answered right back and showed the Huskies why they are regarded as the best team in women’s basketball. They never looked back.
On Friday afternoon, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, the No. 1 UCLA women’s basketball (29-1, 18-0 Big Ten) won 78-60 against the No. 8 Washington Huskies (21-10, 10-8 Big Ten) to keep their season alive and advance to the next round of the Big Ten Tournament.
The Bruins started off rough with a nine-point deficit, scoring only six points. This was surprising for the Bruins, considering their offense had been stellar all season long. The Bruins must ensure that this lackluster offensive performance does not happen again, lest the opposing team take advantage of it.
UCLA women’s basketball head coach Cori Close reiterated how this performance cannot be repeated in a postgame interview, saying that “we have to take responsibility for how we came out in that game (referring to the first quarter) and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Luckily, the Bruins managed to find their footing throughout the rest of the game, scoring no less than 21 points in each quarter and taking back the lead.
The second quarter, which saw the Bruins outscore the Huskies 21-9, was filled with stellar offensive performances by graduate guard Charlisse Leger-Walker, senior center Lauren Betts and senior guard Kiki Rice, who all got some scoring action, most of which came from layups. By the end of the second quarter, UCLA was able to take the lead against Washington after being down nine points in the first quarter.
This offensive resurgence continued into the third and fourth quarters, where Betts continued to shine on both sides of the court, and Rice made the Bruins’ one and only 3-point shot of the game. Although the Huskies did briefly take back the lead after a 3-point shot by Washington’s Elle Ladine, the Bruins were able to gain an eight-point lead by the end of the third.
In the fourth quarter, the Bruins’ offense absolutely dominated the Huskies, outscoring them 29-19. Graduate forward Angela Dugalic, graduate guard Gianna Kneepkens and senior guard Gabriela Jaquez held down the fort with Rice and Betts being subbed out, dropping seven points within two minutes to give the Bruins a ten-point lead by the time Betts and Rice were put back into the game.
With Betts and Rice back in, they went on a rampage. Betts dropped eight points and Rice dropped six points. In addition, there were other extremely significant offensive contributions by Kneepkens, who dropped seven points and Leger-Walker, who scored four.
This late-game offensive dominance allowed UCLA to surge to a 19-point lead by the end of the game, making it a 78-60 victory.
Although Close is celebrating today’s win, she emphasized how important it is to stay vigilant, especially in March: “Nothing is promised. The only way you get to have a long run in March is to stay very present-focused and have a 1-0 mentality.”
Betts also emphasized postgame that the Bruins’ success will not and should not stop here: “I knew the goal was to get as far as we could go and win games in March…the goal is always the same, and we’re going to continue to just be the best version of ourselves every single day.”
With this victory, the Bruins keep their season alive and will now turn their attention to the second match of the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals, where they will play Ohio State on Saturday, March 7 at 11 a.m. PST in Indianapolis, Ind.
