This post was updated March 9 at 11:31 p.m.
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – Lauren Betts held the ball at the top of the key with less than five seconds remaining on the shot clock in the fourth quarter.
The junior center – nationally renowned for her dominance in the paint – realized she had no outlets and drove toward the right side of the hoop.
Betts floated the ball over a Trojan defender and into the hoop, bringing the game even for the first time since the first quarter.
A valiant fourth-quarter effort propelled No. 2 seed UCLA women’s basketball (30-2, 16-2 Big Ten) to a 72-67 upset of No. 1 seed USC (28-3, 17-1) in the Big Ten tournament finale. The victory at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, marked the Bruins’ first conference championship win since 2006 under former coach Kathy Olivier – and the program’s second-ever conference title.
The Bruins had just two regular season losses – both at the hands of the Trojans – and one of which cost them the Big Ten regular season championship. But in the teams’ third battle in 24 days, UCLA broke its curse and earned the upper hand going into the NCAA tournament.
“I think you want your team hungry and edgy going into the NCAA tournament,” said coach Cori Close. “But also really confident. I think our team earned some confidence tonight, and I think that’s going to go a long way.”
Following Friday’s quarterfinal win against Nebraska, Close recited a team motto: “The tougher and more together team always wins.”
But it wasn’t Close’s team that fit this description in the first half, as USC grabbed 14 more rebounds than its rival – including nine more on the offensive end. The Trojans attempted 26 more shots than the Bruins over the course of the game and turned the ball over five less times.
“If you told me we were going to turn the ball over 24 times and get out rebounded by 11 and still win, I would have told you you were crazy,” Close said. “But this group just said, ‘We’ll find a way.’”
The Bruins’ rebounding leaders, Betts and graduate student forward Angela Dugalić, who boast a combined average of 16 rebounds per game – combined for only three boards in the first half.
The team’s 3-point shooting kept UCLA afloat – going 6-for-9 from deep on the half. Dugalić, junior guard Londynn Jones and junior forward Timea Gardiner together neared the Bruins’ season average of seven triples per game in just 20 minutes.
With three 3-pointers on the day, Jones eclipsed 200 conversions in her career to become just the fourth Bruin in program history to reach the milestone. Betts reached her own landmark – surpassing 1,000 career points – before being named Player of the Tournament.
With the third quarter underway, the Trojans seemed to leave the door wide open for a Bruin comeback. UCLA’s defense limited USC to just nine points on 4-for-17 shooting through the third frame.
Meanwhile, Jones’ third 3-pointer set off a 17-6 UCLA run to end the stanza at 54-52.
The Big Ten finale flipped the narrative of the regular season – where the Trojans pulled away in the crunch to snatch a double-digit victory from the Bruins. But when it seemed to have mattered most – with NCAA seeding and Big Ten bragging rights on the line – it was UCLA that found a late-game spark.
“We made a really big emphasis on rebounding,” said junior guard Kiki Rice. “Even though they ended up out-rebounding us, we still found a way in the second half to really turn that up and just hustle and fight.”
A 15-5 run between the third and fourth quarters sealed the game for the Trojans on Feb. 13. Sixteen days later at Pauley Pavilion, a 10-0 run created the final separation to put an attempted Bruin comeback to sleep.
Sunday was the opposite.
After shooting 47% from the field in the first half, USC only managed to shoot 23% from the field in the second half – including 13% from 3-point range.
The Trojan offense ran into a wall in the fourth quarter – failing to sink a single field goal in the first eight minutes. The Bruin defense limited USC star guard JuJu Watkins – who scored a combined 68 points in the first two renditions of the contest – to 11 second-half points on 4-for-15 shooting.
“Playing on the perimeter is something that a lot of posts don’t like to do,” Betts – who blocked two of Watkins’ shots – said. “But that’s what the team needed for me in that moment, and when JuJu was coming off the screens, just pushing myself to get up higher and get her into uncomfortable situations.”
UCLA charged into the lead after Betts’ driving layup and a hook shot by junior forward Janiah Barker.
It soon proved to be an unshakeable advantage.
