UCLA survives late surge from Texas to make first NCAA title game

Phoenix – No offensive performance in between UCLA And texas Friday night, a game that finished as one of the lowest scoring in women’s Final Four history. The Bruins did enough to give themselves a chance to win the first NCAA championship in school history.

Back Lauren Bates And a defensive performance that suffocated madison booker And the Longhorns, UCLA, stopped Texas in the final and avenged their only loss of the season. 51-44 Preparation for the title match in the semi-finals South Carolina On Sunday afternoon.

UCLA, which has won 30 consecutive games since losing to Texas on November 26, reached the title game for the first time in program history, although the Bruins won the AIAW Large College Championship in 1978.

For the Bruins, it felt like somewhat of a redemption, not only because they lost 76-65 at Texas in November, but also because their Final Four appearance as a No. 1 seed last year ended with a blowout 85-51 loss to UConn. UCLA coach Corey Close told reporters in the lead-up to Friday’s game that he had done a “poor job as a leader.” The players resolved to perform better.

They did it, but there was nothing good about the victory. UCLA, which averages 85.1 points, had its fair share of scoring issues on Texas’ weak defense. UCLA had 23 turnovers, the most in a Final Four game since April 8, 2008, when Stanford committed 24 turnovers against Tennessee.

But Texas had a very poor performance, looking nothing like the team that had won 12 in a row after a loss to Vanderbilt in November that had coach Vic Schaefer questioning his team’s toughness.

Texas couldn’t hit open shots for long periods of time and Booker struggled, finishing 3 of 23 from the field with just six points. It was a sharp contrast to their win over the Bruins in November, when Booker had 16 points Rory Harmon There were 26.

Bates scored only eight points in that game. She was determined to change that in Friday’s rematch, and in a game in which points were at a premium, she did enough to assert her presence in the paint as the difference-maker. Bates led UCLA with 16 points on 7 of 10 shooting.

The game remained tight through the first three quarters, given scoring issues by both teams. UCLA entered the fourth with a 31–28 lead, but a 7–0 run broke the game open, helped by a 3-pointer by kiki rice At 9:04 and then a layup gabriela jacquez to give the Bruins a double-digit lead.

UCLA led by 13 points with 4:36 minutes remaining, but Texas narrowed that lead to 47–44 with 55.8 seconds remaining, as its defensive intensity forced UCLA to turn the ball over and miss shots. following a missed jumper Angela Dugalic With 30 seconds remaining, Booker went for a layup, but Bates blocked the shot with 20 seconds remaining. Rice made two free throws with 13.3 seconds remaining to seal the win.

UCLA set the defensive tone early in the game, contesting nearly every shot and holding Texas to just six points in the first quarter – tied for the second-fewest points in a quarter in the Final Four since quarters were adopted in 2016. But in the second quarter, the Bruins themselves scored only six points.

This combined to become the third time in Final Four history that teams scored less than 100 points in a game.

But what does it matter when you’re standing on the brink of school history?