Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament: How to Watch and Game Thread - #3 Seed Ohio State Buckeyes vs. #2 Seed UCLA Bruins
After defeating the Cornhuskers, 85-74, the Bruins advanced to today's Big Ten Semifinal to face the Buckeyes.
Yesterday, the UCLA Bruins played their first game in the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament and they won their quarterfinal game over the Nebraska Cornhuskers, 85-74. As a result, the Bruins advanced to today’s second semifinal game against the #3 seed Ohio State Buckeyes.
Last Time Out
The Bruins struggled at times against the Cornhuskers, but they closed out the game strong. The Bruins had only a two point lead at the half, 41-39.
Nebraska tied the game 47-47 on a Callie Hake bucket, but Gabriela Jaquez nailed a three-pointer to put the Bruins up for good with 7:09 to go in the third. UCLA pulled away from there and led 62-55 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Huskers got as close as four points twice in the final frame, but the Bruins went on a 10-3 with just under seven minutes left to put this one away.
Lauren Betts finished a double-double, scoring 28 points and grabbing 13 rebounds, to lead all scorers. Meanwhile, Gabriela Jaquez added a season-high 23 points and just missed a double-double of her own with nine boards. Kiki Rice was the third Bruin in double figures with 14 points. Britt Prince led the Huskers with 24 points.
Ohio State Buckeyes
In the final game of the day, Ohio State edged Iowa, 60-59, to advance to this afternoon’s game. Taylor Thierry tied the game, 28-28, with 16 seconds left in the first half and, after she was fouled on the shot, she added a free throw to give the Buckeyes a 29-28 lead at the break.
The game remained close in the third quarter with multiple lead changes and neither team leading by more than four at any time. They headed in the fourth quarter with Ohio State leading 48-46.
With 4:10 left in the game, it looked like Ohio State was going to pull away as the Buckeyes were able to increase their lead to six point, 57-51, but Ohio State went cold for almost three minutes and the Hawkeyes took advantage by going on a 7-1 run. That gave Iowa a 59-58 lead with 1:18 to go.
The Buckeyes had the ball with 19 seconds to go and Cotie McMahon was fouled with just six seconds left. She went to the line and made both free throws to put Ohio State up by a point.
Iowa got the ball back with enough time to get down the court, but shots by Sydney Affolter and Hannah Stuelke wouldn’t go in as the clock ran out, allowing the Buckeyes to move on to today’s game.
Listen to the Game With TMB
Today’s game will be broadcast on Big Ten Network with Sloane Martin, Christy Winters Scott, and Elise Woodward on the call. Of course, you can choose to listen to Dave Marcus call the game for the Bruins by listening online. To do that, just right-click on the link below so that you can open up another tab and have it going while you chat in the comments below. Listen to today’s game online.
This is your UCLA women’s basketball vs. Ohio State Buckeyes Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament Semifinal game thread. Here’s how to watch, listen and stream today’s game:
Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament Semifinal
Opponents: #2 Seed UCLA Women’s Basketball (28-2, 16-2) vs. #3 seed Ohio State Buckeyes (25-5, 13-5)
Series Record: Series tied, 5-5
When: 2:30 pm PT, Saturday, March 7, 2025
Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
TV: Big Ten Network with Sloane Martin, Christy Winters Scott, and Elise Woodward
Live Stream: FoxSports.com and the Fox Sports app
Online Audio: uclabruins.com
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast
Tournament Notes:
UCLA
Go Bruins!!!
Thanks again for supporting The Mighty Bruin. Your paid subscriptions make this site possible. Questions, comments, story ideas, angry missives and more can be sent to @TheMightyBruin on Twitter.
Some of the TOs from Kiki are real head scratchers.
Pretty solid first half. Keep the intensity up!