UCLA Women's Basketball Wins Battle 4 Atlantis, Beats Marquette in OT
The Bruins' perfect weekend in the Bahamas continued on Monday, and they will head home to Westwood as champions.
No. 20 UCLA women's basketball (6-0) extended its season-opening winning streak to six by locking up a 66-58 victory over Marquette (5-1) in overtime, securing the Battle 4 Atlantis title in the process. It was a change of pace for the Bruins, who went 0-3 at the 2018 US Virgin Islands Jam and 1-2 at the 2021 Gulf Coast Showcase, finally giving them a taste of some real neutral site success this time around.
UCLA made it to the championship game by beating South Dakota State 72-65 on Saturday before upsetting No. 11 Tennessee 80-63 on Sunday. Marquette, meanwhile, gave them a run for their money on Sunday, leading for virtually the entire second quarter, but neither side led by more than seven points for the entirety of regulation.
The Bruins only hit three field goals in the first quarter, and the Golden Eagles held them to an ice cold 2-of-12 stretch after guard Charisma Osborne opened the game with a quick layup. The shots finally started to fall in the second quarter, with forward Emily Bessoir, forward Lina Sontag joining the scoring attack alongside Osborne and guard Kiki Rice, but Marquette wouldn't let them take over just yet.
After hitting a 3-pointer to break a tie late in the first quarter, the Golden Eagles sank another early in the second. They did almost all of their damage from beyond the arc and at the charity stripe, as Marquette put together a stretch where they outscored UCLA 17-10 where every single one of their points came off of 3-pointers or free throws.
The calls that sent the Golden Eagles to the line got guard Gina Conti in foul trouble early, putting more of the shot creation and ball-handling workload onto Rice's shoulders. Rice hit a pair of layups in the final minutes heading into halftime, including one that tied it up at 27-27 with 12 seconds left on the clock.
Bessoir opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer that gave the Bruins their first lead of the day, setting up some high-quality, back-and-forth second half action. There were five lead changes and four ties in the third quarter alone, and Rice sent things to the fourth with a pair of free throws that made it 44-44 heading into the final 10 minutes.
Conti drilled a go-ahead 3-pointer early in the frame, then she made it a three-point advantage with a layup less than a minute later. Guard Nia Clark came through for her first points of the game with a layup to trim the lead down to one, but Osborne erased it with a jumper with just over five minutes left on the clock.
Forward Chloe Marotta came right back and hit a 3-pointer to tie things back up, however, setting up a tense stretch where neither side was able to get easy buckets.
Conti got out on the fast break after a steal by guard Camryn Brown, and she hit a go-ahead layup with 2:15 remaining. After two full minutes of scoreless basketball, the Golden Eagles came out of a timeout and tied things up with a layup by Marotta.
Osborne missed the game-winner with three seconds left, and then Brown came up short on two second chance attempts, sending the game to overtime.
UCLA cruised to victory in the extra period, starting things off with a layup from Osborne on one end and then drawing a charge from Marquette's star guard Jordan King to foul her out of the game. The Bruins turned that into a 9-2 run that last until the final 90 seconds of overtime, giving them enough cushion to roll with the punches after the Golden Eagles converted on a late and-1.
Rice and Conti each hit their free throws in the waning moments of the extra period, and UCLA locked up the win as a result. The former led the Bruins with 18 points, while the latter finished with 16.
Osborne only scored nine points after going 4-of-16 from the field, although she still played a major role in the offense a team-high six assists. Brown scored all four of her points in the overtime period, but her five steals made even more of a difference. Sontag was similarly dominant on the defensive end, racking up four steals and two blocks.
UCLA won the head-to-head battle in turnovers, points off turnovers, rebounds, offensive rebounds, blocks and steals. The 13-0 steal advantage stood out the most, helping the Bruins win the fast break points battle as well.
After returning from the Bahamas, UCLA will face Jackson State on Friday at home. The Bruins' following game against South Carolina is the biggest remaining headliner on their nonconference slate, and that will tip off in Columbia on Nov. 29.
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