2026 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament: How to Watch and Game Thread - #1 Seed UCLA Bruins vs. #8 Seed Oklahoma State Cowgirls
UCLA looks to complete the season undefeated at home and to advance to the Sweet Sixteen again.
Tonight, the UCLA women’s basketball team will play the final home game of the postseason at Pauley Pavilion when the Bruins host the Oklahoma State Cowgirls at 7 pm PT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
Last Time Out
On Saturday, the Bruins overcame a slow start against California Baptist before, ultimately, crushing the Lancers, 96-43.
To be sure, it wasn’t that the Bruins played badly in the first half. They just didn’t come out and dominate the game in the first few minutes the way they have all season long. In fact, CBU had the lead for most of the first half of first quarter and they still led 12-11 with four minutes to go.
But, then, Gianna Kneepkens hit a jumper that gave UCLA a 13-12 lead which began a 12-3 run which ended the quarter and the Bruins were ahead 23-15 after one.
Even the second quarter wasn’t quite up to the Bruins’ usual standard. After stretching the lead to 12, 27-15, with 9:11 left in the half, UCLA allowed CBU to cut the lead back to just six with 3:19 to go. At that point, the Bruins were up 34-28.
UCLA was still up by six with a little less than two and a half minutes to go before the break when they led 36-30.
At that point, the Bruins seemed to get serious, doubling up the Lancers 8-4 over the time remaining, and UCLA led by ten at the break, 44-34.
After the game, Coach Close described her halftime talk by saying, “It was spirited.” Oh, to be a fly on the locker room wall. Seriously, though, she also said that, to their credit, the players had already addressed what was going on themselves before the coaches even entered the locker room.
Whatever was said, it worked.
The Bruins came out in the second half and they suffocated CBU with their defense. UCLA outscored the Lancers, 31-4, yes, 31-4, in the third quarter and 21-5 in the fourth. Put another way, the Bruins finished the game, and CBU, with a 52-9 run.
Meanwhile, in the first game, Oklahoma State outscored Princeton, 48-33, in the first half. The Tigers fought back a little in the third, cutting the Cowgirls’ lead to eight, 61-33, by the end of the third. But Princeton ran out of gas in the fourth and, ultimately, fell, 82-68.
Oklahoma State Cowgirls’ Starting Five
If Oklahoma State head coach Jacie Holt has her way, tonight’s game will go much like Saturday’s when junior forward Achol Akot aka “A2” scored 28 points. A2 is OSU’s answer to Lauren Betts. While she is only averaging 12.1 ppg for the season, she does lead the Cowgirls in rebounds with an average of 7.3 rpg.
Beyond A2, look for Holt to start four guards, three of whom are averaging in double figures. Senior Micah Gray is averaging 13.9 ppg and shoots 35.2% from long distance while junior Stailee Heard is scoring an average of 12.2 ppg. Gray added 16 against Princeton on Saturday while Heard put up just eight. Gray has tried and made more threes than anyone else on the team.
Despite that the team’s three-point sharpshooter is 5’11” senior Haleigh Timmer. The South Dakota State transfer makes 42.3% of her threes. Timmer is averaging 11.7 ppg. Despite her height, she only averages 3.3 rpg, and she grabbed four boards against Princeton. The Cowgirls’ final starter will be junior Amari Whiting. She is averaginng just 9.6 ppg, making her the only starter not averaging in double figures.
This is the lineup Holt has started every game this season. So, there’s no reason to think she will change things up tonight.
Outlook
Tonight’s game should be another case of the Bruins being the Bruins. That’s not to discount the Cowgirls. Instead, I just expect UCLA to take what OSU gives them. If A2 and her teammates double-team Lauren Betts, look for the Bruins to get the ball to someone else.
UCLA has not lost a game in Pauley since last year’s home game against Southern Cal, and I don’t expect that to change tonight.
Listen to the Game With TMB
Tonight’s game will be broadcast on ESPN and streamed on WatchESPN.com with Eric Frede and Christy Thomaskutty on the call. Of course, you can choose to listen to Dave Marcus call the game for the Bruins by listening online or on satellite radio. To watch or listen online, just right-click on the links so that you can open up another tab and have it going while you chat in the comments below.
This is your UCLA women’s basketball vs. Oklahoma State Cowgirls NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Second Round game thread. Here’s how to watch, listen and stream tonight’s game:
NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Second Round
Opponents: #1 Seed UCLA Women’s Basketball (32-1) vs. #8 seed Oklahoma State Cowgirls (24-9)
Series Record: UCLA leads, 2-1.
When: 7:00 pm PT, Monday, March 23, 2026
Where: Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA
TV: ESPN with Eric Frede and Christy Thomaskutty
Live Stream: WatchESPN.com and the ESPN app
Radio/Audio:
Satellite Radio: SiriusXM Ch. 81 (UCLA Call)
Online: uclabruins.com with Dave MarcusLive Stats: NCAA Gamecenter
Tournament Notes:
UCLA
Go Bruins!!!
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You know it's a big game when Jim Hill is in the building.
End of 3Q thoughts: UCLA has had a bad habit of coming out flat for at least one quarter a game, and my feelings more often than not have been that the third quarter tends to be that quarter, as opposing teams will make adjustments and UCLA will be slow to react. That was the case here, as the Bruins only shot 35.3% (6-17) while letting Oklahoma State shoot a blistering 52.9% (9-17). Again, UCLA still leads by 17, and this does not feel like a game the Bruins are in danger of losing, but after spending a weekend watching the other #1 seeds summarily dispatch their opponents early and often, this has not been a confidence-building weekend like one would have hoped.