UCLA Women's Basketball Falls Short Of Upsetting South Carolina
The Bruins were running with the reigning champs for most of the night, but just couldn't keep up down the stretch.
No. 15 UCLA women's basketball (7-1) saw its undefeated season come to an end against No. 1 South Carolina (7-0) on Tuesday night, losing 73-64 in Columbia. The Bruins led for virtually the entire second and third quarters, as well as the first three minutes of the fourth, only for poorly-timed fouls and slow-developing offense to cost them in the final minutes.
With the result, UCLA falls to 0-19 all-time against the No. 1 team in the country. South Carolina, in avoiding the upset, extended its winning streak against ranked opponents to 17 games.
The Bruins took the first lead of the night on a jumper by guard Kiki Rice, but that was one of just two field goals they hit in the opening five minutes. UCLA was only able to get up six shots and failed to draw a foul in that same span, with four of their possessions ending in turnovers.
South Carolina started the contest shooting 4-of-14 from the field, though, so their first quarter lead only maxed out at five. That opened the door for the Bruins to claw their way back into it in no time, with four straight makes by Rice, guard Charisma Osborne and guard Gabriela Jaquez giving them the lead before the end of the first frame.
The Gamecocks got two layups to fall in the first 30 seconds of the second quarter to retake the lead, but the Bruins answered with a 10-0 run to take back control. Even when South Carolina broke its streak of 11 consecutive misses, Osborne hit a pair of 3-pointers and a pair of free throws to extend the lead back to 10 points.
UCLA then missed seven shots in a row to end the half, allowing South Carolina to go on a 6-0 run and make it a 31-27 game at the break.
After missing their first two shots of the second half, the Bruins got a 3-pointer from forward Emily Bessoir to stop the bleeding. Rice and Osborne were the only ones who were able to record a point for the next eight-plus minutes, though, and UCLA slowly lost a grip on its lead until guard Zia Cooke hit the eurostep and got the go-ahead fast break layup to fall.
Bessoir bookended the the third quarter with another 3-pointer, and the two teams entered the final 10 minutes knotted at 47-47.
UCLA went up by three after trips to the line by Rice and Osborne, then Osborne hit two more freebies to restore the lead after South Carolina converted on a second-chance opportunity.
Center Kamill Cardoso got another shot to go in the paint, and then forward Aliyah Boston hit a free throw to tie it. Cooke came down and drained a deep 2 to give the Gamecocks the lead, which Cardoso doubled with a second-chance layup over Rice. All the while, Osborne and guard Gina Conti were forced to heave deep 3-pointers at the end of the shot clock after failing to penetrate.
Guard Camryn Brown finally ended the nearly four-minute scoring drought and 1-of-14 shooting stretch with a contested hook layup, only for Boston to snatch those points back with some free throws. Again, Conti fought hard for a running layup right before Cardoso bumped the lead right back up to four the very next possession.
Just when it seemed like UCLA's defense had tightened up, Rice got called for a reach in foul, as well as a technical after she slammed the ball in frustration. Boston and forward Laeticia Amihere combined to hit all four free throws, then Amihere hit another once Rice committed another defensive foul.
By the time Osborne hit an and-1 with 22 seconds left on the clock, the game had virtually been decided. It took Rice fouling out for the Bruins to get the ball back with 20 seconds remaining, but the Bruins were unable to make it a two-possession game at any point in the final minute.
Osborne led UCLA with 24 points, while Rice dropped 16 without an assist. Bessoir was the only other Bruin to hit double figures, despite shooting 4-of-14 from the field and finishing with a team-worst minus-15 plus/minus. The Bruins shot 32.3% from the field as a team, with everyone outside of their top scoring trio shooting 25%.
The Gamecocks going 1-of-14 from beyond the arc nearly cost them, but their advantages in the paint and off the bench lifted them to the victory.
UCLA will stay on the road for its next contest, taking a much shorter trip up the coast to take on UC Santa Barbara. That game will tip off at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
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