Last-Second And-1 Sinks UCLA Women's Basketball Against Washington State

The Bruins completed a fourth-quarter comeback on the road but came up just short in the final moments.

When IImar'I Thomas sank an and-1 to cap off a go-ahead 14-0 run to open the fourth quarter, the Bruins looked like they had finally taken charge.

A few minutes later, it was an and-1 by the Cougars that ended the game, as the Bruins' rebounding woes came back to bite them in Pullman.

UCLA women's basketball (10-8, 5-6 Pac-12) dropped its fourth game in its last five outings by faltering against Washington State (15-7, 7-4). With so many swings in each team's direction, the back-and-forth contest was never separated by more than two scores through the first 29 minutes. The Cougars were the ones who pulled ahead to end the third, followed by the Bruins responding early in the fourth, but UCLA wound up losing 66-65 in the final seconds Friday night.

The Bruins actually entered the final minute with a lead, and their defense stepped up to give their offense a chance to put it away.

Guard Charlisse Leger-Walker turned it over with a chance to tie, then guard Charisma Osborne ended up giving it right back with 20 seconds to go. Osborne made up for the giveaway by blocking Leger-Walker's layup with seven seconds left, but the Cougars got the offensive rebound and took a timeout to draw up another play.

Leger-Walker missed again, only for UCLA to allow a 14th offensive rebound, leading to her sister Krsytal Leger-Walker putting up a second-chance attempt that wound up being the game-winning and-1. Guard Chantel Horvat turned the ball over with a second to go, and the Bruins had coughed away yet another close game in the fourth.

It had been a close game from the get go, even though UCLA was getting outshot from deep and eaten alive on the offensive boards from the opening tip.

There were five lead changes in the opening quarter, and while all of the Bruins' points came from under the hoop or at the free throw line, the Cougars already got things going from deep with two 3s. Washington State held the lead for the entire second quarter, hitting three triples in that second period, but six points from Thomas, five from guard Natalie Chou and three from Osborne helped UCLA make it a 28-27 game at the half.

Osborne immediately answered the Cougars' opening field goal in the third, then 10 of the next 14 points between the two teams came from the free throw line. Washington State hit another couple 3-pointers and three more free throws to go up by seven, only for Thomas and Osborne to combine for a 14-0 run all on their own.

UCLA then led by seven with just over five minutes to go, but Washington State tied it up with a 7-0 run in a two-minute span. Again, it was 3-pointers and free throws that did all the work for the Cougars.

All of a sudden, what looked to be the Bruins' game just moments earlier had become a back-and-froth nail-biter yet again. There were four ties and five lead changes in the final 3:36, with Thomas and Osborne again doing most of the scoring for UCLA as time ticked away.

Guard Camryn Brown chipped in with a game-tying score with 1:22 left, then Osborne's layup just inside the one-minute mark gave the Bruins a two-point lead. That's when the back-to-back turnovers ended in the Cougars' and-1 with a second to go, ending the contest with a game-winner at the free throw line.

UCLA was working with its deepest rotation of the season, as forward Angela Dugalic made her season debut in 16 minutes off the bench. Dugalic went 0-for-3 from the field with three turnovers, though, finishing with a team-worst minus-six plus-minus.

Outside of Osborne and Thomas, who combined for 41 points on 14-of-29 shooting, no other Bruin scored more than six points. The Cougars, on the other hand, had four players finish with nine-plus points, and the home team with the more balanced scoring load, advantage on the boards and leg up from long range came away with the win.

UCLA will continue its road trip with a game against Washington on Sunday, with that contest tipping off at 12 p.m.

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