This post was updated March 3 at 10:52 p.m.
The Bruins waved goodbye to Pac-12 conference play.
After defeating Arizona (16-14, 8-10 Pac-12) by a score of 61-41 on Saturday night in Tucson, No. 8 UCLA women’s basketball (24-5, 13-5) officially ended its last regular season game of the Pac-12. The Bruins will now head to Las Vegas to compete in their last-ever Pac-12 tournament and are tied for second in the conference following their victory against the Wildcats.
“To be tied for second in the best conference in the country, that deserves acknowledgement,” said coach Cori Close. “We’re just now getting our stride to play our best basketball.”
The Bruins last met the Wildcats in early February at home, sealing the win by a score of 66-58. Sophomore guard Kiki Rice and sophomore forward Gabriela Jaquez shot a combined 41 points in the teams’ last matchup, with Jaquez earning a career-high 15 rebounds and her third double-double of the season. In today’s game, the sophomore duo put up 18 total points and 12 rebounds.
UCLA took early control to begin the first quarter, forcing a five-minute Arizona scoring drought. The Bruins put up 13 points in the first half of the frame.
Despite the early lead, the Bruins gave up seven turnovers throughout the first quarter, allowing the Wildcats to shrink their deficit down to 10 points by the end of the first period.
The Wildcats began the second frame in similar fashion, scoring zero points from the field for the first three minutes. Sophomore center Lauren Betts – who is ranked second in the nation in blocks – was dominant under the Wildcats’ basket with four rebounds and a block throughout the first half. The 6-foot-7 big achieved her 10th double-double of the season with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
“It’s just playing my game,” Betts said. “Just playing with my teammates and doing whatever I can for the team at this point. It’s just about me doing whatever we need to win.”
UCLA turned the ball over another seven times during the second frame, matching its average of 14.5 turnovers per game in only the first half. Arizona, on the other hand, had half the number of turnovers.
But their seven turnovers didn’t help the Wildcats as they ended the first half with a nearly four-minute scoring drought, allowing the Bruins to balloon their lead to 15 points.
By halftime, the Bruins reached a 61% field goal percentage – far above their average 45.2% – accounting for their first-half dominance despite a 40% turnover percentage.
“We made panic decisions off the bounce instead of decisive decisions to get behind their defense,” Close said. “We didn’t create enough catches off the pass, (and) we could have set new screens better to create ball reversal.”
The teams entered the locker room with a UCLA advantage of 33-18.
The Bruins’ points nearly doubled the Wildcats’ early in the second half as they created a 20-point lead – their largest lead of the game thus far. But even so, UCLA racked up another three turnovers in four minutes, which Arizona converted into 17 of its 22 points.
Sophomore guard Londynn Jones splashed her third 3-pointer of the game to put the Bruins up 49-26 and to add to her 16 total points, 12 of those from 3-point makes. Jones is the team’s leading 3-point scorer, with 78 this season, and averages 35.3% made 3-pointers.
In their last efforts, the Wildcats ended the game with a 9-0 run and forced a four-minute scoring drought for the Bruins. But the Bruins ended their regular season with a 61-41 win over the Wildcats, adding to their five-game win streak in which they held each of their opponents to under 55 points.
UCLA will compete in the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas as the No. 3 seed to finish off its last Pac-12 matchups.
“The best is yet to come,” Close said.
