The UCLA women’s basketball team is preparing to play for a national championship Sunday after the Bruins beat Texas, 51-44, in Friday’s Final Four in Phoenix.
Senior center Lauren Betts led four Bruins players in double figures with 16 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots, including a key rejection of a layup attempt from Texas’ leading scorer Madison Booker that could have cut the Bruins’ lead to a single point with 20 seconds left.
Kiki Rice totaled 11 points, while Gianna Kneepkens and Gabriela Jaquez each finished with 10 points for UCLA.
A stifling UCLA defense held Texas to 30.8% shooting and a season-low 44 points in avenging their only regular-season loss. The Bruins (36-1) will enter the matchup with the Gamecocks (36-3) on a 30-game winning streak.
“All you can ask for is an opportunity to play your best basketball for a national championship,” UCLA coach Cori Close said.
Close likened Friday’s defensive struggle to a “rugby match.”
“I told them there’s going to be a game in the NCAA tournament that you’re going to have to just grind it out and do it with your defense,” she said. “This was the game we needed that. But the reality is it’s really all about toughness at this point and finding a way to make a winning play, even if it’s a winning play you wouldn’t have predicted or chosen.”
Sunday will mark the first finals appearance for the UCLA women’s basketball team since the NCAA adopted the women’s basketball national tournament. The Bruins won the 1978 AIAW national title.
UCLA entered last year’s Final Four as the No. 1 overall seed, but was blown out by Connecticut, 85-51, in a semifinal game.
“Last year we took that loss really hard,” Betts said. “I think it made us think a lot about what we could have done better, not just in practice but as a team, leadership, being able to have tough conversations. I’m just really proud of the growth and the way that we’ve held such a high standard consistently this year.”
Sunday’s championship game tips off at 12:30 p.m. Pacific Time at Phoenix’s PHX Arena, and will be televised on ABC.