UCLA Women's Basketball Beats Sacramento State in NCAA Tournament

The Bruins got hot early and never looked back.

No. 4 seed UCLA women's basketball (26-9, 11-7 Pac-12) defeated No. 13 seed Sacramento State (25-8, 13-5 Big Sky) by a score of 67-45 in the opening round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday night. The Bruins were more than comfortable on their own home floor at Pauley Pavilion, starting the game on a 16-2 run and leading by double digits for the final 36:37 of the contest.

Guard Kiki Rice was a catalyst for that early run, scoring 10 points in the first quarter alone. By the end of the night, the freshman was leading UCLA with 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, plus three steals.

Forward Emily Bessoir joined Rice in double figures with 14 points, and she did most of her damage in the second quarter. The post player dropped eight in the second frame alone, drilling a pair of 3-pointers in the period to help the Bruins go up 40-23 at the half.

The mini runs that the Hornets used to stay close were gone soon after the teams came back out of the locker room, with the Bruins turning their 12-point lead into a 20-point advantage by the time the fourth quarter rolled around. From there, coach Cori Close got even more contributions from her deep rotation, and UCLA's lead only dipped below 20 for a mere 44 seconds.

Nine of the 10 Bruins who stepped foot on the floor scored a point, and even those who weren't hitting shot after shot left notable impacts on the game. Guard Charisma Osborne only scored 11 points, but she added 12 rebounds, five assists and two blocks by the time the final buzzer sounded. The senior also led the way with a plus-22 plus/minus.

Freshman forward Gabriela Jaquez, meanwhile, scored six of her eight points in the fourth quarter.

On the other end of the floor, UCLA held Sacramento State to 13 or fewer points in every single quarter. The Hornets finished the night 24.3 points below their season average, boasting .340/.286/.467 shooting splits in the loss.

UCLA will face No. 5 seed Oklahoma back at Pauley Pavilion on Monday with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line. After reaching the regional semifinals four years in a row from 2016 to 2019, the Bruins have not made it back since.

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