Phoenix, AZ- UCLA gave a championship clamp against UT leading scorer enroute to their first championship game in NCAA history while continuing their 30-game win streak as Senior Center Lauren Betts racked up another career double double, 16 points and 11 rebounds, on Friday night at Mortgage Matchup Center to make up and avenge her team’s only loss of the season in a close low-scoring victory, 51-44.
“We always say the tougher, more together team wins,” Coach Cori Close said. “And I just thought we had to keep resetting, keep coming back to the right mental state of mind, to what the next right step was….And we did it with toughness, togetherness, and defense.”
UCLA had the second game of Final Four doubleheader and came out the gate attacking on both ends with a 10-0 run in the first quarter to take an early advantage, 14-6.
“I like having the second game because of the quick warmup and then get out there ready to play,” said UCLA Senior Guard KiKi Rice postgame.
Similar to how South Carolina vs UConn game, Lady Bruins and Lady Longhorns accumulated low quarter scoring in the first half. While the first semifinal game reached 50 points combined, UCLA and UT combined for 37 points making this game a NCAA record for lowest points in a Final Four first half as both teams scored six points in one of the two quarters.
.”I wanted to apologize to all the fans for the rugby match and the 23 turnovers, coach Close said. “I give credit to them [UT] that they play that hard to force that kind of game and they have some just excellent players on their team.”
UCLA went to their leading scorer and expected first round WNBA top 10 draft pick, Betts whom posted six points and grabbed down four rebounds, to lead her team into halftime with a three-point lead, 20-17.
Second half resume like first half’s first quarter for UCLA, starting with Bruins going up 10 again in the third quarter and finishing with a 11-9 advantage to extend their lead, 31-26.
Rice scored all of her 11 points in second half, with a pivotal strong drive in the third and later a momentum boosts three pointer in the fourth, to ignite a 7-4 run, with little over 7:00 remaining in the game, putting UCLA up 38-30.
“When Lauren gets triple and double teamed, it’s big for us guards, so a few of us were able to knock down some big shots,” Rice said.
Betts then gave her team their largest lead thus far in the game, 42-30, before UT’s Madison Booker answered with only her second field goal to cut down the lead back to 10. Betts denied Booker the next time she came through the lane in the paint with a rousing rejection that was part of sealing her team’s victory and extending their season into Sunday final championship game.
UCLA had four players score in double figures including Gianna Kneepkens, whom hit her second triple of the night to stretch her team lead to 13, 45-32 with less than five minutes remaining.
“Like we want this so bad for each other. And the way we come out, the way we prep, the way we practice, the way we work on defense, the way we go for steals, like that’s all because we just want to earn more days with each other,” Betts said. “We want to make history and we want to do this for all of each other. I think it’s just our connectivity and that’s why we’ve gotten this far and I’m just extremely proud of this group. Obviously, this job’s not finished…”
UCLA did not get a walk in the park win like UT had on them early in their season as UT fought back to the very end, including a 12-2 run to bring them within three, 44-47 in less than a minute remaining of the game.
Rice, whom holds NCAA eighth highest free throw percentage at a little over 90 percent, knocked down back-to-back pairs of clutch free throws to put the game and any Longhorn comeback hopes away.
“As a team we practice free throws every single day,” Rice said. “I know I am good free throw shooter and have tons of confidence in it.”
UCLA returns on Sunday to face another USC from the south region in hopes of making history again while USC looks to build on their legacy of NCAA championships with a little redemption from last season’s championship loss.