UCLA Women's Basketball: Why "Better" Bruins Fell In Sweet 16 To LSU

Alex Kirschenbaum | Apr 1, 2024

Mar 30, 2024; Albany, NY, USA; LSU Tigers forward Angel Reese (10) shoots a layup against UCLA bigs Angela Dugalic (32) and Lauren Betts (51). / Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

For the second straight season, the UCLA Bruins women's basketball club saw its NCAA Tournament championship hopes dashed in the Sweet Sixteen.

This time, it was the reigning champs that did the Bruins in. The 27-7 Bruins, the No. 2 seed in their bracket, fell to the 31-5 LSU Tigers, the No. 3 seed, 78-69.

Although the Tigers were up by seven points at the halftime break, a scoring drought from the defending champs and a scoring surge from the upstart Bruins leveled the playing field a bit. Heading into the fourth frame, both clubs were tied, 48-48.

The two teams exchanged buckets down the home stretch, too. A Gabriela Jaquez jumper helped put UCLA up 67-64 at the 2:46 mark. The Bruins would go on to get outscored 14-2 the rest of the way.

After the game, UCLA head coach Cori Close diagnosed the defeat, accepting culpability herself, as Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times details.

“We gave up layups and free throws and we missed layups and free throws down the stretch,” Close noted, “and ultimately I’m responsible.”

“Credit to LSU,” Close added, per ESPN/The Associated Press. “They got the shots that they wanted down the stretch, and we didn’t get the shots that we wanted. We did not execute the way that we needed to, and that’s one that’s going to sting for a really long time for me.”

Per Bolch, two of the Bruins' All-Pac-12 superstars really felt that their club was the stronger one. Happily, both are just sophomores.

LSU enjoyed a massive free throw advantage. The Tigers went 24-of-31, far outpacing the Bruins' 12-of-18 night. The Tigers also prioritized post scoring over long range sniping. UCLA took 32 triples as opposed to a scant five from LSU, but the Bruins made just seven, not a huge edge over the Tigers' two.

“I think we are the better team,” center Lauren Betts posited, “and I thought that we just didn’t show up today.” Betts scored 14 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field and 6-of-11 shooting from the foul line, but more impressively grabbed 17 boards. She also blocked four shots and passed for three assists.

“It sucks,” guard Kiki Rice opined, “because I felt like we had a team this year that was for sure capable of winning it all and that didn’t happen.” Rice scored 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 shooting from the charity stripe, in addition to passing for a team-most five assists (against an unfortunate five turnovers), grabbing three boards and swiping one steal.

Oh well. There's always next year.