PHOENIX — When the final moments of Friday’s Final Four semifinal game ticked down, the UCLA Bruins were mostly thinking about one thing.
They got one last game together.
Every UCLA women’s basketball player said it in the minutes following a historic win over Texas to reach the first NCAA tournament championship game in school history. The Bruins (36-1) powered through a grueling 51-44 defensive slugfest to advance to Sunday’s national championship game against South Carolina (36-3).
This Bruins team, led by six players in their final season of eligibility, set a goal to play on the last day of the season, a mark they fell one day short of a year ago when they got blown out by UConn during a Final Four semifinal.
UCLA forward Angela Dugalic celebrates after making a three-pointer in the first quarter Friday against Texas in the Final Four.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
“The love that we have for each other truly drives us to just compete so hard,” said UCLA center Lauren Betts, who finished with a double-double and a game-saving block. “Like, we want this so bad for each other. The way we come out, the way we prep, the way we practice, the way we work on defense, the way we go for steals, that’s all because we just want to earn more days with each other. We want to make history. We want to do this for each other.”
UCLA didn’t trail after the opening basket on Friday, but the Bruins didn’t pull away until the fourth quarter, stymied by a season-high 23 turnovers that let Texas hang around.
Betts blocked a layup attempt Madison Booker with 20 seconds left to get UCLA the ball back while up three points. Kiki Rice then hit a series of free throws and UCLA evaded Texas’ fourth-quarter comeback effort after the Longhorns went on a 12-2 run.
“I’m just really proud of this group,” Betts said. “I think it shows the maturity. I know I can count on anybody on this team, regardless of what the score is. We’re going to continue to show up and compete.”
No team scored 40 points until UCLA finally reached the mark with 7:56 left in the game. Both teams scored a season low point total.
And yet, the Bruins found a rhythm early in the fourth quarter to open a double-digit lead and continued to hold the Longhorns (35-4) to a season-low 31% from the field.
For all the praise the Texas defense earned, it was UCLA’s defense that dictated the pace of Friday’s game and shut down the Longhorns’ offense.
“Whatever kind of style of play that the game presents itself, we’re going to be ready to play,” said UCLA senior Kiki Rice, who finished with 11 points and five rebounds. “Today was obviously a lot lower scoring, a defensive battle, and we were prepared to do that. We leaned on our defense and our physicality and our ability to withstand games, to get stops and to score what we needed to score.”
The Bruins held Booker, the Longhorns’ top offensive weapon, to six points on three-for-23 shooting.
Texas was the only team to defeat UCLA this season, earning a 76-65 win over the Bruins on Nov. 26 during a game in which Betts was injured midway through the contest.
UCLA players (from left) Kiki Rice, Angela Dugalic and Lauren Betts react in the final seconds of the Bruins’ win over Texas on Friday.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
UCLA went on a 14-2 first-quarter run on Friday to go ahead by 10 and force a Texas timeout with two minutes left. The Longhorns went one for eight during that stretch and their six total points were their lowest in a quarter all season.
But the Bruins committed four consecutive turnovers to let Texas narrow the deficit even as the Longhorns struggled to make baskets. UCLA concluded the half one for seven and went into halftime up 20-17. Neither team scored in the last 2:30 of the second quarter.
The 37 combined points were the second-fewest in a half in Final Four history. Texas, which entered the game ranked No. 5 nationally in offensive efficiency, shot just 25% during the first half.
The scoring didn’t pick up in the second half. The teams combined for 22 points in the third quarter and UCLA took an eight-point lead.
UCLA fans celebrate the Bruins’ win over Texas in the Final Four on Friday night.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
Justice Carlton was fouled as she scored a layup and hit a free throw with 53 seconds left in the quarter to get back to a one-possession contest and added another layup to pull within one. The Bruins led 31-28 at the end of the third quarter.
UCLA went up by 10 following a Rice three-pointer and a Gabriela Jaquez fast-break layup, then Gianna Kneepkens hit a three-pointer with five minutes to give the Bruins their largest lead at 13 points.
Texas got back within three with just under one minute left, and after an Angela Dugalic miss, Texas had a chance to take the final shot of regulation. Betts, however, delivered a clutch block and UCLA gained possession after the swat.
“I think it really speaks to just the collective mindset of this team and being selfless like every position out there, whether it was offense or defense,” said Charlisse Leger-Walker, who had four rebounds and four assists while navigating a smothering Texas full-court press. “We didn’t care who it was. We just knew we were trying to play as a team. And even when things weren’t going our way, we really rely on our leadership and our experience to stay poised if they’re going on runs.”
Texas succeeded most of the NCAA tournament with a lockdown defensive effort and got a shooting boost from Rori Harmon and Booker. UCLA didn’t let any of Longhorns get room to put up comfortable shots, while UCLA capitalized on transition opportunities and Betts hit layups.
“I thought it was really key down the stretch, in the fourth quarter, we got Lauren the most amount of touches,” UCLA coach Cori Close said. “I thought that was the difference of us coming out on top, getting high-percentage shots [late.]”
Rice made two free throws with three seconds left, leaving the Longhorns to dribble out the clock. Close sent in players on her bench, while UCLA’s seniors and graduate students got to celebrate on the sideline.
One last day, with a chance to win a championship.
“Obviously, we’re going for the win,” said Dugalic. “That’s gonna be our mindset going in, but I don’t want that, the outcome, to take away anything with the rest of the stuff that we did, not just this past year, but the years before it took to have this.”
