UCLA Women's Basketball Beats Oklahoma, Advances to Sweet 16

For the first time in four years, the Bruins are headed back to the Sweet 16.

No. 4 seed UCLA women's basketball (27-9, 11-7 Pac-12) weathered No. 5 seed Oklahoma's (26-7, 14-4 Big 12) third quarter surge to advance another round in the NCAA tournament on Monday night. The Bruins will be continuing on to the regional semifinals after securing the 82-73 victory at Pauley Pavilion in the Round of 32, thanks in large part to guard Charisma Osborne's career-high 36 points.

The high-scoring performance from UCLA's lead guard pushes the Bruins further than they've ever been in the senior's career in Westwood, and it keeps them alive longer than they've been since 2018.

It looked like UCLA would cruise to a win regardless of Osborne's efforts, with guards Gina Conti and Kiki Rice drilling back-to-back 3-pointers to put them ahead in the opening quarter. Forward Line Sontag hit a triple of her own later in the frame, and an 11-0 run to open the second quarter put the Bruins ahead by as many as 18 points.

Osborne played a big part in that run, and she hit a couple of big shots before that half that kept UCLA up by double figures for an extended period of time.

Even though back-to-back layups by Osborne sent the Bruins ahead by 15 points in the third quarter, the Sooners went on a 14-0 run to immediately erase that deficit. Oklahoma even took the lead with time ticking down in that period, and UCLA still trailed heading into the fourth quarter despite an and-1 by Osborne.

Guard Londynn Jones hit a shot in the opening minute of the fourth, and the Bruins led from then on out. Out of UCLA's final 25 points of the night, 21 came from the free throw line. Osborne alone went 11-for-11 from the stripe in that frame, and that proved to be the difference as the blue and gold pulled away down the stretch.

Rice was the only other Bruin who joined Osborne in double figures, putting up 14 points on 7-for-8 shooting from the stripe. Sontag, guard Gabriela Jaquez and guard Camryn Brown all fouled out, but coach Cori Close's deep rotation capitalized nonetheless.

UCLA will face No. 1 seed South Carolina in the Sweet 16 on Saturday, with a spot in Monday's Elite Eight contest on the line. The Bruins have only been to the Elite Eight twice in program history, and they are looking for their first trip to the Regional Final since 2018.

No. 2 seed Notre Dame and No. 3 seed Maryland are the other teams remaining on the other side of the Greenville regional.

Follow Connon on Twitter at @SamConnon
Follow All Bruins on Twitter at @FN_AllBruins
Like All Bruins on Facebook at @FN.AllBruins
Subscribe to All Bruins on YouTube

Read more UCLA stories: UCLA Bruins on Sports Illustrated
Read more UCLA women's basketball stories: UCLA Women's Basketball on Sports Illustrated