This post was updated Jan. 21 at 10:56 p.m.
Friday’s top-5 matchup was a back-and-forth affair.
It was a battle to the basket down the stretch that featured 20 lead changes.
Then Kiki Rice arrived.
The sophomore guard – previously 1-for-8 on the night – lit up with 7:35 to play, executing an explosive blow-by while drawing the and-one call. The pivotal 3-point play ignited her ensuring tear.
Rice immediately blocked a shot on the other end and found the bottom of the net on another layup.
And then, despite her early shooting struggles, she squared up deep behind the left wing and drained it.
63-60.
From then on out, UCLA opened up the game with its 13-3 run, never trailing again en route to the 76-68 road victory. No. 5 UCLA women’s basketball (15-1, 4-1 Pac-12) conquered No. 3 Colorado (15-2, 5-1) in Boulder, overcoming a suffocating Buffalo defense and a slow start for sophomore center Lauren Betts to avenge last season’s buzzer-beater loss to the home team. With the final advantage, UCLA now boasts five ranked wins this year.
“This is the best team we played,” said coach Cori Close. “They are tough, they’re purposeful, they’re versatile, they keep coming at you. … This means a lot to us because we know we beat a really, really good team, so lots of credit to them. This was about mental toughness and being able to win ugly.”
In what could be considered their tallest task of the season – before a record-breaking Buffalo audience of 11,338 people and the challenging altitude of Boulder – the Bruins proved their ability to rebound from their tough crosstown rivalry loss last week.
“That’s exactly what we needed after the loss at USC – we needed to be challenged right away,” Close said.
And despite Rice’s key offense down the stretch, UCLA prevailed because of graduate student guard Charisma Osborne. Osborne finished with 22 points and four steals on arguably the most demanding defensive assignment on the court.
Midway through the fourth quarter, the matchup between Osborne and another experienced Pac-12 guard in Jaylyn Sherrod became evident.
Sherrod commanded the CU Events Center’s attention with a timely 3-point play to level the score at 51 apiece entering the final frame.
But Osborne immediately drew Sherrod’s foul on the ensuing possession. It was her fourth of the night – she was forced to the bench and Colorado proved unable to ultimately recover.
“I know that I’m growing every single day when I have to guard different players, whether that’s someone like Sherrod who’s super fast or someone bigger and super physical,” Osborne said. “It’s pretty fun playing against different players and being able to change my defense and try to stop them.”
Colorado challenged UCLA’s offensive flow early, both in transition and in the half court. Osborne carried the Bruins with 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting coupled with a block and a steal in the first half and comprised a majority of the offense. While the home squad notched nine assists in the first half, UCLA uncharacteristically tallied just one.
The Buffaloes also limited Betts’ presence inside, forcing her to go 3-of-10 from the field through the first two quarters and pressuring her ball-handling down low to force three turnovers from the center.
But the Bruins battled until the first-half buzzer sounded, staying within striking distance courtesy of four free throws and a late layup from Osborne.
UCLA found itself down three points at 35-32 heading into the locker room.
The Bruins emerged from the half energized with a steal sandwiched between two buckets inside, nabbing the lead for the first time since the six-minute mark of the first quarter.
The Buffaloes had an immediate answer to gain the lead back, and then Angela Dugalić stepped up. The senior forward aided Osborne’s efforts with a make from deep followed by three consecutive offensive rebounds on the same possession.
Despite their dominance on the boards, the Bruins couldn’t convert the extra opportunities. They went 1-of-13 during a four-minute stretch in the third quarter.
Then another offensive rebound gave UCLA two back-to-back second-chance buckets from Betts to regain a 49-48 lead at the end of the third frame. Betts finished the night with her eighth double-double of the season, posting 20 points and 13 rebounds to help the Bruins overcome Buffalo center Aaronette Vonleh’s efforts inside.
“Basically, I’m living out my dream right now,” Betts said about playing in her hometown. “This is what I’ve trained for. This is what my family and I have been talking about for my entire childhood. Just to play on this stage in front of all of them is super special.”
While Colorado provided an answer to open the fourth quarter, Rice’s composure and confidence down the stretch ultimately shifted the tide in the Bruins’ favor.
“To play the highest competition and to have it refine you and bring out new things – that’s what we want,” Close said. “That’s what’s going to make us a great team in March.”
