The best start to a season in program history. The first 30-win season in program history. The first conference championship in almost two decades. And to top it all off, the first Final Four appearance in program history.
It was a season of firsts for Cori Close and her unforgettable Bruins. They accomplished more than any team in UCLA Women’s Basketball history, but so close to the finish line, they fell short.
In the Final Four, the UConn Huskies (36-3, 18-0 Big East) routed the UCLA Bruins (34-3, 15-2 Big Ten) 85-51 on Friday Night at Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay. The Huskies move on to play South Carolina in the National Championship.
UCLA didn’t hold the lead all night, struggling to find a rhythm early on. A Paige Bueckers buzzer beater to end the first quarter extended UConn’s lead to 10, a gap that would only continue to grow. By halftime, the lead was doubled, as a demoralized Bruin unit returned to the locker room down 42-22. An equally lackluster second-half performance finally put them out of their misery.
The Bruins’ 51 points were a season low for the team, which averaged nearly 80 per game. Lauren Betts did all she could in the sluggish defeat, scoring more than half of her team’s points with 26. She shot 11 of 18, with the rest of the team hitting on just nine of 34 attempts.
Turnovers devastated UCLA throughout the game, a key reason for UConn’s dominance. The Bruins lost the battle 19-7, allowing 27 points off of turnovers while scoring just five of their own in the process. “It was difficult for us to get in rhythm both offensively and defensively when we’re continuously turning the ball over”, Junior Kiki Rice said.
For the Huskies, success didn’t come just on the back of projected #1 overall WNBA draft pick Bueckers, as it had in their previous three matches. Bueckers averaged 29 points per game in the tournament coming in, but finished with just 16 against the Bruins. It was Senior Azzi Fudd and Freshman Sarah Strong who led scoring for UConn, putting up a combined 41 points on 64% shooting, including 58% from deep.
While the 34-point loss ends the Bruins’ season, there is a lot to look forward to for the program, which seems to get better every year. With not one player graduating, UCLA will be able to go into next season with a nearly identical group. Though devastated, the team is prepared for the future, taking this moment as a learning experience. “We gotta let the pain of this hopefully teach us to go to new heights next year,” Coach Close said.
Alongside Lauren Betts announcing her return for her senior season is the arrival of another Betts. Lauren Betts’ sister Sienna Betts, a five-star recruit ranked 2nd in the Class of ‘25, will be joining her in blue and gold next season. The duo will be reunited once again after playing one year together at Grandview High School in Colorado.
Sienna Betts was recently named the Morgan Wooten National Girls High School Basketball Player of the Year, also winning the McDonald’s All-American game MVP just two days later.
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Featured Image Photographed by Aidan Sun/Daily Bruin.
