Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament: How to Watch and Game Thread - #1 Seed UCLA Bruins vs. #5 Seed Ohio State Buckeyes
The Bruins overcame a 10-point deficit to beat Washington, 78-60, yesterday.
March is all about the Jim Valvano phrase “Survive and advance.” At the same time, it wouldn’t be fair to say that the Bruins, but Washington certainly put a good scare into them. UCLA showed great character in beating the Huskies by 18 points after falling behind by nine in the first quarter and, then, by 10 early in the second quarter.
Ultimately, the Bruins prevailed by 18, three more points than they beat the Huskies at Pauley a few weeks ago, to advance to today’s Big Ten Tournament Semifinals against Ohio State. Tip-off for today’s game is set for 11 am PT and the game will be broadcast on Big Ten Network and streamed on FoxSports.com.
Last Time Out
If you’ve followed the women’s basketball team this season, you know that the Bruins have typically started fast. UCLA has taken a big enough lead in many if not most of their games in the first few minutes that opponents have not been able to recover from.
That wasn’t the case yesterday.
After Washington scored the first points of the game, UCLA scored the next four on shots by Lauren Betts and Gianna Kneepkens—and then the Bruins went cold over the next five minutes. Meanwhile, the Huskies took advantage and went on a 9-0 run to go up 11-4 with 2:29 to go in the first quarter.
Following a jumper by Betts, Washington picked up where they left off, and they scored four more points to finish the first quarter up, 15-6.
Charlisse Leger-Walker began the second quarter with a layup, but Washington responded with a three-pointer from Sayvia Sellers to make it 18-8 with 9:15 left in the half. Washington still led by 10 with 6:26 to go, 22-12. That’s when Cori Close had seen enough and called a timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, the Bruins finally woke up. They finished the half with a 15-2 run which gave them a 27-24 lead at the half.
Despite the halftime lead, this game wasn’t over quite yet. Avery Howell tied the game for Washington with 6:26 left in the third when she made it 31-31, and Elle Ladine put them up by a point when she followed up on a basket by Betts with a three-pointer for the Huskies.
Kiki Rice responded with a three of her own, giving the Bruins a 36-34 lead. While Washington was able to keep UCLA’s lead to no more than four until there were about two minutes left in the quarter, Angela Dugalić and Lauren Betts stretched UCLA’s lead to eight before the end of the quarter and the Bruins led 49-41 after three.
With seven minutes to go in the game, UCLA went on a 8-0 run to double their lead in just two and a half minutes to 66-50.
The Huskies tried to mount a comeback, cutting the lead back to 11 with just over three minutes left, but the Bruins finished strong with a 10-3 run to advance to today’s semifinal.
Lauren Betts finished the game with 26 points to lead all scorers. She just missed a double-double with eight rebounds. Kiki Rice, whose third quarter three was the Bruins’ only three-pointer of the game, scored 18. Gianna Kneepkens added 13 despite uncharacteristically missing all four of her three-point tries. Leger-Walker was the final Bruin in double figures with ten points.
Ohio State Buckeyes
After UCLA’s game, Ohio State overcame a two-point first quarter deficit to upset fourth-seeded Minnesota, 60-55. The Buckeyes outscored the Gophers 16-10 in the second quarter to take a 32-28 lead at the half.
While Minnesota got as close as two points down in the second half twice, the Golden Gophers were not able to tie the game or take a lead in the second half.
Of course, the Buckeyes were one of just two Big Ten UCLA defeated by less than ten points during the regular season. The Bruins won that game 82-75 but that game was in Columbus. How will a game on a neutral court turn out? Well, that depends on whether UCLA continues the dominant play they displayed in the final three quarters yesterday or not. The one thing that’s clear is that they cannot afford another start like yesterday or they may find themselves unable to recover against a team which was ranked 11th in the nation in this week’s AP Top 25 poll.
Listen to the Game With TMB
Today’s game will be broadcast on Big Ten Network and streamed on FoxSports.com with Krista Blunk, Elise Woodward, and Autumn Johnson on the call. Of course, you can choose to listen to Dave Marcus call the game for the Bruins by streaming the game audio. 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. Ohio State Buckeyes game thread. Here’s how to watch, listen and stream today’s game:
Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament Semifinals
Opponents: #1 Seed UCLA Women’s Basketball (29-1, 18-0) vs. #5 seed Ohio State Buckeyes (26-6, 13-5)
Series Record: UCLA leads, 7-5
When: 11:00 am PT, Saturday, March 7, 2026
Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
TV: Big Ten Network with Krista Blunk, Elise Woodward, and Autumn Johnson
Live Stream: FoxSports.com and the Fox Sports app
Radio/Audio:
Satellite Radio: Sirius Ch. 139 and XM Ch. 195 (UCLA Call)Online: uclabruins.com with Dave Marcus
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast
Game Notes:
UCLA
Go Bruins!!!
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Leger-Walker gets her fifth foul for existing on the basketball court.
BRU-WINS!