UCLA guard Kiki Rice drives on UConn Huskies Forward Sarah Strong during Friday’s NCAA women’s national semifinal game in Tampa, Fla. Photo by Glenn Sattell/Sportspage Magazine
The UConn Huskies tore apart the UCLA Bruins 85-51 in the national championship semifinal game in front of an announced crowd of 19,731 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla., Friday night. They will advance to Sunday’s national championship game against South Carolina. The game featured the No. 2 seed from the Spokane 4 region, UConn Huskies, against the No. 1 seed in the Spokane 1 region.
The Huskies led from the opening tip when guard Azzi Fudd made a layup just 22 seconds into the contest. Forward Sarah Strong added a layup 30 seconds later to give UConn the 4-0 lead after the first minute of play. UCLA center Lauren Betts scored a jump shot and guard Kiki Rice make a layup in the second minute of the game to tie the score 4-4.
It was the game’s only tie.
UConn center Jana El Alfy scored on a put back shot following a missed three pointer by guard Paige Bueckers and Strong added three-pointer. UCLA forward Angela Dugalic and guard Elina Aarnisalo each scored layups and it was 9-8 in favor of the Huskies with 4:51 left in the opening quarter.
The Huskies pounced on the Bruins for the rest of the quarter. Guard Kaitlyn Chen made her first basket of the game. Bueckers made her first basket too. Fudd hit a jump shot, and UConn was on a roll. UCLA’s Betts make a layup and a free throw after getting fouled by Strong, then Strong answered with a three-pointer on the next possession.
This was followed by a three-pointer banked off the glass by Fudd after Rice turned it over. UConn was on a 12-3 run, which ended when Betts made another layup for UCLA. UConn led 23-13 at the end of the first quarter after Bueckers connected on a buzzer beating fadeaway jump shot.
UConn Huskies guard Kaitlyn Chen gets fouled by UCLA Bruins guard Kiki Rice during Friday’s NCAA national women’s semifinal game on Friday night. Photo by Glenn Sattell/Sportspage Magazine
Any bit of momentum that UCLA thought they had in the first quarter was gone by the time the second quarter arrived. It was the Huskies game to lose and they weren’t having any of that. The UConn defense forced turnovers and made it difficult to get good shots off. What shots the Bruins were able to get off weren’t always the best ones.
The second quarter was Azzi Fudd versus Lauren Betts. Fudd score the first four points of the quarter, a jump shot and two free throws. Betts made a layup that was answered by UConn forward Ice Brady. Then Betts made another layup. Huskies guard KK Arnold was fouled by Betts but only made one of two free throws. The game was turning into a rout as UConn now led 30-17 with 4:57 left in the first half.
Rice connected on a three-pointer to cut the deficit to ten points, but Fudd scored on a jump shot and then made a three-pointer to increase the Huskies lead to 15. Dugalic made a shot for UCLA then UConn finished with a 7-0 run to close out the half. The Huskies led 42-22 at halftime. UConn outscored UCLA 19-9 in the second quarter.
Bruins guard Londynn Jones got called for a foul on El Alfy just seconds after the third quarter began. The UConn center went to the free throw line but missed both shots.
The Huskies defense forced more UCLA turnovers, which allowed Bueckers and Strong each to score pushing UConn’s lead to 24.
The Bruins finally got some momentum rolling when Rice made two free throws after getting fouled by Chen, which was followed by back-to-back layups from Betts. UConn now led 46-28 with 6:21 left in the third quarter.
The teams exchanged baskets for a few possessions until the three point shooters decided to have a shootout. Strong hit a three pointer to make the score 53-29, then Bueckers made a layup but missed the free throw after getting fouled by Dugalic. UCLA forward Timea Gardiner answered with a three-pointer of her own. Then Strong hit a trey, which was answered by one from forward Janiah Barker. Strong finished the Huskies third quarter scoring with a layup, but with 19 seconds left, Betts was fouled by guard Ashlynn Shade and made both of her free throws. UConn led 60-37 after three quarters.
Betts, Bueckers and Strong traded buckets in the beginning of the fourth quarter. No matter how hard Betts tried to close the gap, Bueckers and Strong provided answers. The Bruins took a timeout with 6:21 left on the clock to give their players a breather and to figure out answers. They were down by 27 points and running out of time. It was 68-41 in favor of UConn.
UCLA Bruins forward Janiah Barker pulls down one of her five rebounds during Friday’s NCAA Women’s Basketball national semifinal against the UConn Huskies. Photo by Glenn Sattell/Sportspage Magazine
Betts came out of the game to catch her breath but was only out of the line up for a little over a minute before she was put back in the lineup. The process repeated. UConn’s Chen made two free throws, then Betts scored on a jump shot.
The Huskies went on another run with Arnold scoring twice and El Alfy making a bakset. Betts answered with a jump shot and a free throw after El Alfy fouled her. It was now 76-46 in favor of the Huskies and there was still 2:37 left to play.
With the outcome of the game firmly decided, both teams went to their bench in order to give lesser experienced players an opportunity to play in the Final Four. When the final buzzer sounded, UConn had firmly secured the 85-51 victory and the right to play for a national championship.
UConn went 33-for-60 (55.00 percent) from the field; 7-for-16 (43.75 percent) from three-point range; and 12-for-17 (70.59 percent) from the free throw line. They turned the ball over seven times which led to five points by the Bruins.
“I have to say that this was somewhat unexpected. You always go into these games this time of the year expecting it to be incredibly, incredibly difficult,” said UConn head coach Geno Auriemma. “Not that it wasn’t, because I think our guys played about as hard as any group of kids can play. But I don’t think we made a mistake the entire evening, especially on the defensive end.”
“I’m just incredibly proud of these guys and what they were able to do and how it was a complete team effort led by these three [Bueckers, Strong and Fudd], obviously. UCLA is just really, really good and really, really hard to play against. It took everything we have, and I’m really humbled by their performance tonight,” he added.
UCLA went 20-for-52 (38.46 percent) from the field; 4-for-16 (25.00 percent) from three-point range; and 7-for-8 (87.50 percent) from the charity stripe. They committed 19 turnovers which led to 27 UConn points.
“We got exposed. We got out-toughed. We got our butts beat today. And it stings right now. And may the pain of that regret and this loss buy us a ticket, if handled well, buy us a ticket to be better the next time hopefully we get this opportunity,” said UCLA head coach Cori Close.
“And I’ll go back with my staff and say, ‘Okay, what did we learn? What did this teach us?’ I’ve heard it from so many people, that until you go through it, it’s a different level of compartmentalization, all the things that are surrounding it, and trying to be ready to play your very best basketball in a way you haven’t probably prepared like this all year long,” she added.
UConn guard Paige Bueckers and UCLA Bruins forward Angela Dugalic battle for a loose ball during Friday’s NCAA national semifinal game. Photo by Glenn Sattell/Sportspage Magazine.
Sarah Strong led the Huskies with 22 points. Azzie Fudd contributed 19 points, while Paige Bueckers pitched in for 16 points. Kaitlyn Chen dished five assists while Jana El Alfy and Strong each grabbed eight rebounds.
“I think we all just want to lock in defensively. I think that’s all of our main mindset and our main goal as a team, to be super locked in defensively, talk, communicate, play with energy, effort on that side of the floor. And it translates into what we want to do on offense,” said Bueckers. “But being aggressive on both sides of the floor, hunting shots, hunting the paint, and then hunting to get steals, deflections, being disruptive. So being aggressive in all aspects”
Lauren Betts scored 26 points to lead the Bruins. Kiki Rice pitched in for eight points. Gabriela Jaquez pulled down eight boards, while Rice and Angela Dugalic each dished three dimes.
“I think they were just tougher in the beginning. I mean, I think that’s the only way I can put it. I think they just played with – they just played more together,” said Betts. “And we knew that UConn was going to run their sets really well. That’s what they do.”
“I think as a team we talked about it in the timeout, just defensively just coming out with a lot more aggression, and making it harder on them. I feel we just let them do whatever they wanted out there, from the very beginning,” Betts added.
The No. 2 seed UConn Huskies will now play the No. 1 seed from the Birmingham 2 region, South Carolina Gamecocks. The Gamecocks downed the Texas Longhorns earlier in the day to advance. The UConn-South Carolina NCAA Women’s Championship game will be held at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday afternoon from Tampa’s Amalie Arena.
