UCLA Messes With Texas, Defeats Longhorns 51-44 to Advance to First NCAA Championship in Program History
Lauren Betts sealed a physical game to create new history for the UCLA Bruins.
In the end, it was always going to come down to Lauren Betts.
The senior post has constantly answered the bell for the UCLA Bruins these past few years, raising her game and making winning plays time and again whenever the Bruins needed her. It should have come as no surprise, then, that when the Bruins found themselves floundering late and needed a play to right the ship, it was Betts who came up big.
Texas had the ball down three with less than 30 seconds left, and star forward Madison Booker saw an opportunity to drive to the basket and get a quick layup to cut the lead to one. The thought process was sound - UCLA had struggled to inbound the ball, and with only one timeout remaining, the Longhorn forward had to like her team’s chances at stealing the game.
There was just one problem: Lauren Betts was still on the court.
You could see from the opening tip-off that Lauren was not going to be denied tonight. Where the rest of her team had smiles on their faces, Lauren had just a scowl, and the senior was perhaps at the most vocal she has been in her UCLA career, providing the Bruins with a sense of urgency all on her own. Of course, with the game on the line and Booker driving the paint, it would be Betts who would once again make the play her team needed, blocking the shot and securing the rebound, allowing the Bruins to regain their composure and ice the game out en route to a 51-44 victory and the first appearance in the NCAA National Championship Game in program history.
Make no mistake, this was not a pretty game to watch. Coach Cori Close repeatedly referred to it as rugby, and I can’t say that description was inaccurate. The officials, perhaps having watched the previous game between UConn and South Carolina and deciding they would try to one-up their colleagues, allowed an excessive amount of physicality to take place between the two teams, which was exactly the style of game that Texas wanted to play, but interestingly enough, also worked to UCLA’s advantage, in that it allowed UCLA’s perimeter players to play with much more physicality at the point of attack. This was especially true of Madison Booker, who was constantly forced into uncomfortable positions and held to an abysmal 3-23 shooting night. The Bruins similarly did a great job against senior guard Rori Harmon (who Texas coach Vic Schaefer reminded the media after the game was one of the best players in the nation who gets no recognition), forcing her to make some tough shots.
The UCLA defense was mostly outstanding, holding the Longhorns to only 30.8% shooting on the night. The defense was not perfect - in particular, Texas found a lot of success crashing the glass after the first quarter and finished with 17 offensive rebounds - but even when the Longhorns got a chance for second-chance points, they were unable to capitalize thanks to a strong defensive effort. Credit to UCLA’s guards, especially Gabriela Jaquez, for rising to the occasion and meeting the moment defensively.
That said, this game was close because UCLA could not get out of its own way on offense. The Bruins finished with an eye-popping 23 turnovers, and unlike in the win over Duke in the Elite Eight, this was an entire-game problem. Yes, Texas was physical, even excessively so, but the only consistent thing about UCLA on offense was that they were going to be careless with the ball. UCLA’s lead guard triumvirate of Kiki Rice, Charlisse Leger-Walker, and Gabriela Jaquez was particularly brutal in this regard. Jaquez led the team with six turnovers, while Rice and Leger-Walker had four each, and so often the Bruins found themselves committing a sloppy turnover thanks to that group. This team has been better about taking care of the ball, but for the second straight game, they failed to meet the moment in that regard.
Credit to Texas for also making things difficult for UCLA. While Lauren Betts led the team with 16 points, she went for long stretches of the game without touching the ball in the post, which is a bread-and-butter play for the offense. Kyla Oldacre was able to use her size to push Betts further out on the catch, and there was a collective team effort from the Longhorns to deny the entry passes that are so crucial to UCLA’s offensive identity.
Speaking of things Texas deserves credit for: that press. Wow. Texas is one of the best pressing teams in the country, but watching the game, you’d have thought that UCLA had never faced a press before in their lives, let alone this exact same press back in November. The Bruins struggled just to inbound the ball, looking confused as to how to create easy inbound passes, and tried every trick in the book to create open looks to no avail. Early on, the Bruins used Lauren and her size to create an easy entry pass, but Texas soon adjusted to take that away, and at that point, the adventure was on. It was that degree of helplessness that made Booker’s late drive the correct decision.
But again, UCLA had Lauren Betts, and Texas didn’t, and that proved to be the difference.
Here are my game notes:
Pregame Notes, UConn vs South Carolina
I figure since I’m sitting up here watching this game, might as well jot a few things down.
First off, there is one major thing that stands out to me about both UConn and South Carolina’s lineups: there are only five seniors between the two squads. Yes, UConn will lose Azzi Fudd after this season, and South Carolina will lose Raven Johnson, but these two programs are still set up for success in the future. UCLA….not so much. The top six minutes earners are all gone after this season, so for the Bruins, there is a sense of program urgency that the other three teams don’t necessarily have.
There’s a lot you can take away from this first game, but the physicality of both teams has been a highlight. The offenses are struggling for sure, but this isn’t a case of tight rims or anything like that. Rather, both teams are being forced into some really awkward shots and are really struggling to generate open looks.
I was fascinated by who would have the first “uh oh” moment of the game, by which I mean which team would feel itself falling behind first, and the answer was UConn. The Huskies have simply not adapted well to their opponent’s physicality. Sarah Strong has had to labor for her points, while Azzi Fudd has been a no-show. Their defense, however, is giving them a chance to get hot from deep here late in the 3rd.
South Carolina is going to give UCLA some issues if they win tonight. They’re very long and athletic, and while they aren’t going to beat the Bruins from the outside, they don’t necessarily need to. I think UCLA is the least athletic team here in the Final Four, so I’ll be interested to see how much that truly matters.
UConn lost because its stars wilted under the bright lights (Strong 12 points on 4-16 shooting, Fudd eight points on 3-15 shooting), but the Gamecocks were simply the more physical team and dominated the Huskies on the boards. Something to monitor.
Unsurprisingly, the arena has emptied out pretty considerably following the UConn/South Carolina game. Still, a good amount of UCLA and Texas fans are here, but maybe let folks come down from the upper levels and fill in the lower bowl.
First Quarter
UCLA is looking to get Gianna Kneepkens going early, and with good reason - the transfer has struggled shooting in the tournament, and the Bruins desperately need an outside threat to open things up on the interior. Also interesting: Lauren Betts’s first shot was from the Thomas Welsh Memorial 10-Foot Baseline spot, which she sank. Good sign.
Good initial start for the Bruins at the first media timeout. The Bruins are actively contesting everything on the defensive end, which isn’t easy to do given how good Vic Schaefer’s offense is at generating open looks. The offense hasn’t really gone inside much yet, but I think that’s fine if the Bruins keep penetrating as well as they are so far.
Early reffing note: the refs have carried over some things from last game and are letting a lot of physicality go. While that might benefit the Longhorns on the interior, I think this is ultimately to UCLA’s advantage, as it means their guards can play much more physically at the point of attack and limit drives, which is a huge part of the Texas offense.
Another good early trend: UCLA is positively cleaning up the boards. Texas isn’t getting an opportunity for offensive rebounds and second-chance points, and on a team that loves to score around the rim and lacks consistent shooters, that’s huge.
Here comes Sienna’s first minutes. Again, these will be critical just to give her sister a breather.
UCLA has things going early. Dugalic hits her first three, then makes a beautiful pass to a cutting Gabriela Jaquez on the backdoor to give UCLA a 10-point lead and force a Texas timeout.
Kiki Rice, I swear…
End of 1Q thoughts: The timeout by Schaefer seemed to settle Texas down a bit, but the Bruins really came out focused to start this game. The big question will be how they keep the momentum going throughout and avoid their typical lulls, especially after ending the quarter with no points and three turnovers in the final 2:10.
Second Quarter
UCLA is going to need to come up with a new strategy to break the Texas press. Only having two back (with one being Betts) isn’t the worst strategy, but the Bruins would benefit from having another ballhandler back there.
GREAT boxout by Kneepkens to force a travel. She hasn’t lit up the scoreboard so far, but she’s doing all of the little things correctly.
Schaefer is going to go for an early challenge here. Our view from up top isn’t very helpful for figuring out if the call was correct or not, but the bigger issue is that the Bruins are struggling to go inside to Betts. Texas is being physical in moving Lauren off her spot, and when they go over the top, the passes have not been on the mark. UCLA is going to need to make some sort of adjustment to get its star more involved.
UCLA’s defense: stellar. UCLA’s offense: merely ok, with the Bruins possessing more turnovers than made shots so far. A bit of a Duke redux to start.
Way too many mistakes for the Bruins, which has let Texas back into the game. We’ve mentioned it before, but the Bruins cannot afford to be this sloppy with the ball. In particular, the Bruins keep picking up the ball and holding it on the outside, which is letting Texas get up close and put more pressure on them. Can’t do that, especially if the refs are going to let physical play go.
Halftime thoughts: UCLA’s defense has created a major advantage for them, but at some point, the Bruins have to get over the physicality of Texas and meet the moment. The Bruins had 12 turnovers in the half (seven in the second quarter), and they are letting the Longhorns dictate the game. In particular, you’d want to see the team go inside to Lauren more often and force the issue, but she’s barely getting touches thanks to poor play on the perimeter.
One major positive: the Bruins have limited Texas star Madison Booker to just two points on an abysmal 1-12 shooting (0-3 from three). You have to assume she’ll hit some in the second half, but the Bruins are clearly determined not to let her beat them.
One last thought: if the last game is any indication, I expect there to be way more fouls called this half.
Third Quarter
Right on cue, Texas gets called for a foul when Betts went to post up.
We also get our first free throws of the game! Look at nature healing.
Uh oh, a major collision on a loose ball leaves Lauren Betts on the ground for a hot minute. She eventually gets back up, but that isn’t great (they’re going to review for a flagrant, which feels unlikely given how the play went, but may be just to give Lauren time to recover).
UCLA finally got Lauren a touch on the low block, and she easily converted it, but Oldacre is becoming a problem. She’s too big for Lauren to just back down, and if she holds on to the ball too long, the Texas defense collapses on her.
These might be the most crucial Sienna minutes of the season. Getting Lauren as much rest as possible right here will allow her to play all of the 4th quarter. She immediately helps force a shot clock violation, which is a good start.
Again, UCLA needs to figure out how to inbound the ball. They almost get a five-second violation before a late timeout call, but that cannot be happening at this point in the game.
End of 3Q thoughts: UCLA is winning this game on sheer talent. The coaching has not been there, and it’s letting Texas hang around. The Bruins look lost trying to inbound the ball, are struggling to get the ball to the best player on the court, and keep making careless mistakes. They will need to dig deep and find something here in this fourth quarter, because it feels like the Longhorns have found something that is working.
Fourth Quarter
Welcome to Winning Time. Let’s see what this team is made of.
Angela Dugalic bounced the ball off the backboard, and it somehow landed in Betts’s hands. Also, I have no idea why Vic Shaefer keeps playing Cunningham when Oldacre has been so much better.
A Texas player literally landed on Lauren Betts’s back with no foul call. Luckily, Betts had the wherewithal to kick the ball out to Kiki Rice, who finally made a positive impact by nailing a three-pointer. On the next possession, Leger-Walker made a great defensive play to force a steal and kick ahead to a streaking Jaquez for the layup. Suddenly, the Bruins have some breathing room with 8:30 left.
Ok, Texas has been good with their challenges in this game, but this one feels desperate. The ball clearly went off the back of Oldacre, and now the Bruins get a free timeout to scheme up a shot with four seconds remaining on the shot clock. (Or I don’t know anything, and the ball goes to Texas again).
Ball don’t lie.
That was Madison Booker’s second made basket of the game, and it came with 5:50 remaining. The Bruins have continued to do a tremendous job against her.
That was a huge three that Kneepkens got to drop. UCLA probably doesn’t want to trade baskets down the stretch, but if they can keep getting shots like that, it might not matter.
Counterpoint: UCLA still can’t inbound the ball, and Texas is back in the game.
UCLA is really going to let Texas back into this game because they can’t take care of the ball. The Bruins have not scored in the last 2:13 of game time. Just some really bad basketball down the stretch when they needed to ice the game.
When UCLA needed it most, Lauren Betts reminded everyone that she is the best player on the court. Madison Booker drove down the lane, and Betts blocked it, grabbing the rebound and forcing a foul. Unfortunately, they do still need to inbound the ball because Texas is not in the bonus yet, so there is still plenty of time.
They’re going to go to Kiki Rice to try and hit some free throws to ice the game. Rice has had a miserable game, but she has been the team’s closer in the few tight games they’ve had. If she can hit at least one free throw, you’d feel a bit better about this.
Game on the line, Bruins force Kyla Oldacre to hit a jumper…and she instead hits the side of the backboard. That should do it.
Final thoughts: A lot of mistakes, no doubt, but competitive greatness is giving your best when your best is required of you, and UCLA certainly got that to start the fourth, building a lead that they would maintain all the way to the finish. Credit to the team for finding a way, but they’ll need to be cleaner on Sunday to put a banner up in the rafters.
The championship game will take place on Sunday, April 5th, with tip-off set for 12:30 PM PT.
Go Bruins!!! Bring Home NC #126!!!
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As I was reading through the live comments to the game and all were noting the “no calls’ from the refs and the “rugby scrum” physicality of the play in the paint, it finally struck me that this group’s versatility is exactly why this UCLA team feels different from years past. Most "finesse" teams—the ones that rely on beautiful ball movement and high-percentage shooting—fold the moment a game turns into a "rock fight." UCLA’s ability to win both ways is their greatest strength heading into the final.
This team has two faces: First, in the Conference Tournament Championship game
they looked like a machine. The entry passes were crisp, Betts was catching everything in rhythm, and Kiki and Kneeps were hitting "rhythm" shots because the spacing was perfect. It was elite, high-level basketball. Second, in the last two NCAA “Rock Fights,” that beauty disappeared. Instead of folding under the "rugby scrum" pressure or the 23 turnovers, they leaned into the unrelenting "dirty work" performed by Jaquez and others, diving, rebounding, defending, screening, and the defensive rim protection of Betts. They proved they can win a couple of games (the last two) where they shoot poorly and play "ugly" as long as they out-tough the opponent.
South Carolina is going to be the ultimate test of this versatility. They will add a different dimension…….they believe they have the best athletes and if I had to bet on something in this game, I would bet that they will come out sprinting in kind of a “shock and awe” fashion to see if they can knock our Lady Bruins off balance and build a lead; that is exactly what South Carolina used to dismantle UConn, racing out to an early lead that the Huskies never fully recovered from. Given their "human track meet" roster, Dawn Staley will likely test UCLA’s transition defense immediately to see if the Bruins' perimeter players can handle their high-velocity decision-making. Then later, if the refs allow it, it will disseminate into a “rugby scrum” defensive struggle and South Carolina will try to hold off UCLA while it scores transition points off long rebounds or off of turnovers due to their suffocating defense. So, what do we do?
IMHO, to prevent a double-digit deficit in the first five minutes, UCLA must execute three defensive mandates: First, We need to control the pace. We cannot afford to trade baskets in a track meet. We should use the full 30-second shot clock on our first few possessions—even if we don't get a perfect look—simply to prevent South Carolina from getting 10+ transition opportunities in the first quarter like they did against UConn. Second, we need to have one of our perimeter players as a safety. Kiki, Gabs and Kneeps need to be disciplined. They can’t all crash the boards. One of them must stay back near the logo on every UCLA shot to prevent South Carolina’s guards or wings from leaking out for easy transition layups. Third, I think we have to embrace the "Rock Fight" early. Most likely, this game will be called like the last two. If we engage in their “track meet” we may find ourselves down by 8 or 10 before we know it……IMHO, we need to bring that "Rugby Match" physicality from the opening tip, bumping and grinding South Carolina and making every catch, dribble, shot and rebound difficult. If the refs decide to call the game close, we have the personnel to play that game, to play defense without fouling and great free throw shooters if the fouls start to pile up……Above all else, we need our team to keep its poise late in the game as we did against Texas…….Go Lady Bruins……bring home that Natty!!
Not the most aesthetically pleasing game, but a gritty win that shows our Lady Bruins are locked in mentally. I think SC will be the darlings of the press and pundits, but I have confidence we have what it takes to add a banner to Pauley. The work has been done, so it’s really just a case of finishing the journey. I’ll be sad to see this special season end, but this group will always have a special place in my heart. See you all for the final - Fours up!