This post was updated April 6 at 8:35 p.m.
TAMPA, Fla. – If there’s one thing on every UCLA scouting report, it’s to find a way – any way – to survive the forest of limbs in the paint.
Coach Cori Close’s sets flow from the block out, getting the ball to Lauren Betts and letting things orbit from there. The 6-foot-7 junior center commands attention in the post, either finishing through contact or zipping it out to shooters when the double comes.
It’s the inside-out symphony the Bruins have played on repeat all season, and it generally always worked.
But Friday, the gears jammed.
UCLA women’s basketball was scouted out of its identity by a team helmed by a mastermind Hall of Famer, coach Geno Auriemma. UConn decoded UCLA effectively. Its game plan was one step ahead of UCLA’s all night long.
“I don’t think we made a mistake the entire evening, especially on the defensive end,” Auriemma said.
By the opening tip, UCLA’s signature inside-out rhythm was cracked. UConn smothered Betts with aggressive doubles and timely digs – but unlike the Bruins’ past opponents, UConn didn’t stop there.
It rotated out to UCLA’s perimeter shooters with alarming speed, cutting off passing lanes that Betts usually exploits when the paint collapses.
“They scramble – they were coming from double teams and running us off the line on inside-out passes,” Close said. “Nobody has closed like that with us this year, and that’s one of the things we’re going to learn from.”
UCLA was just 1-for-5 from 3 heading into the second half, and the stagnation only seemed to worsen as the game wore on.
Under relentless pressure, UCLA’s guards kept forcing passes into Betts – and UConn kept jumping them. Husky center Jana El Alfy tipped or picked off pass after pass, part of a 19-turnover night fueled by a scout that knew exactly where the ball was going.
Each miscue was an opportunity for the Huskies, who racked up 27 points off the blunders.
“Turnovers are really what killed us in the first half because we didn’t have shot attempts at the basket,” said junior starting point guard Kiki Rice. “It was difficult for us to get in rhythm both offensive and defensively with continuously turning the ball over, and they’re a great defensive team.”
It wasn’t just the turnovers. UCLA leaned heavily – maybe even too much – on Betts. All week, the Bruins made it clear they didn’t think the Huskies had an answer to their All-American anchor.
It seems they were mistaken. Though Betts gathered 26 points, El Alfy and forwards Sarah Strong and Ice Brady held their own while UConn’s layered, well-timed help defense forced UCLA into predictability.
With Betts at the center of nearly every possession, the wear showed. By the third quarter, UCLA appeared drained – slow to loose balls, sluggish in transition and fading fast as UConn kept pushing.
“We were looking for things to settle in, for things to come to us,” Betts said. “We needed to go out and take the game and to go make plays, not have plays happen to us.”
With 24 Final Fours under its belt, UConn played like a program steeped in the moment – with sharp intent and a teamwide synergy.
UCLA, typically one of the nation’s most composed squads, looked scattered. The connection frayed, and nothing seemed to click.
“Our urgency, our competitiveness – I think we lacked that a little bit today,” Betts said. “Recognizing this is the Final Four, our season is on the line, we really need to recognize the moment that we’re in and play like it. We need everybody to show up that way.”
The numbers backed it up – UCLA shot 38.5% from the field and 25% from deep, and it didn’t break the 10-point deficit after the first quarter.
Yet the differences weren’t just in execution – they were in style. UConn’s offense pulled UCLA’s length away from the rim and attacked gaps with cuts and midrange jumpers, rather than relying on deep 3s or post-ups. The Bruins seemed to wait for their identity to reappear all night.
It never quite did.
“We match up a little bit better with some of the things South Carolina does,” Close said. “UConn really spread us out. Credit to the way they played as a team – with great toughness and purpose tonight – and exposed where we didn’t.”
For UCLA, this season was nonetheless historic – a Final Four run, just three losses to go with 34 wins and a core that will return next year with postseason experience under its belt.
But in the national semifinal, it wasn’t talent that separated the teams. It was the scout, the experience and the hustle.
And UConn was nearly perfect.
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