This post was updated March 27 at 7:53 p.m.
Halfway there.
With three rounds done, the Bruins are midway to what could be their first NCAA national championship in program history.
But their greatest trials are yet to come.
No. 1 seed UCLA (34-1, 18-0 Big Ten) never trailed against Big Ten foe No. 4 seed Minnesota (24-9, 13-5), defeating it 80-56 at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Friday night. The Bruins punched their ticket to the Elite Eight for the second consecutive season and just the third time in program history.
Despite entering the contest as heavy favorites after defeating the Golden Gophers by 18 points earlier this season, the opening frames were anything but easy for the Bruins as their opponents remained within ten points throughout the first half.
Though it features a starting lineup full of projected first-round WNBA picks, UCLA’s offense was a two-woman show throughout the first half of the contest.
At the end of the second quarter, senior center Lauren Betts and graduate student forward Angela Dugalić combined to score 20 points on 10-for-13 shooting from the field. However, the remainder of the squad scored just 14 points during the same period – shooting only 30% from the field and going 0-6 from 3-point land.
In fact, no Bruin converted a single 3-pointer until the third quarter.
“If they’re gonna focus on me and try to take me away, Ange (Dugalić) usually has a mismatch in there,” Betts said. “So we’re just gonna make sure to try to get her touches moving forward.”
UCLA’s defense played a key role in keeping the squad ahead at halftime. It allowed just 10 points in the first quarter and forced the Golden Gophers to turn the ball over a total of nine times in the first half – nearly reaching its season-average game total of 10 by the break.
The unit lapsed in the second quarter, as Minnesota was able to convert all three of its attempts from deep and shot 54% from the field, helping it to outscore its opponent 19-16 and decrease the deficit to just five points at halftime.
The Bruin defense clamped down on the Golden Gophers again to begin the third quarter, holding them scoreless for the first 4:40 of the quarter while forcing three turnovers and blocking three shots.
The relentless UCLA defense held Minnesota to just 56 points – 19 less than its season average – despite the latter shooting 50% from behind the arc across the contest.
“We definitely tightened up defensively,” said coach Cori Close. “One of the things I am most proud of today is that we really did not shoot it well and we didn’t allow missed shots – we had nine missed layups in the first half and we didn’t make many threes – to dictate our defensive intensity.”
With 4:15 remaining in the third quarter, UCLA finally converted its first 3-pointer. Senior guard Gabriela Jaquez found guard Lena Bilić in the corner and the freshman – who averages just 3.2 points per game and has shot just 27.5% from deep – drilled the shot.
“This is an uncharacteristic game in how we shot the three,” Close said. “But I was telling them after the Iowa game, the championship of the Big Ten, I just said, ‘You guys, we have to be built for the days in which those threes don’t fall.’ And you know, today they didn’t fall.”
Compounding their struggles from deep, the Bruins also struggled at the line throughout the first three quarters, shooting just 53% from the mark – 25% lower than their seasonlong average. Aside from senior guard Kiki Rice’s 6-for-6 effort, the Bruins converted just two of their nine free throw attempts.
With the help of her strong day at the line, Rice once again dominated the Golden Gophers, with 15 second-half points for a total of 21 – her third highest total of the season. The senior put up her season-high total of 25 against Minnesota in January.
“I think both games we had a really good collective team effort,” Rice said. “I felt like I got some good matchups, good looks at the basket. And I think when teams commit so much to my teammates, whether the shooters or our posts inside, it opens up driving lanes. Teams are going to have to choose how to defend us.”
UCLA will face the winner of Friday night’s LSU-Duke contest in the Elite Eight on Sunday where the squads will battle to extend their season and win a trip to the Final Four.
“It’s March and it’s a lot of our last years,” Betts said. “We are approaching it very business-like. I think we learned a lot last year of just not being happy with how far we get, we want to win the whole thing.”
