SACRAMENTO — Once again, it wasn’t a blowout from start to finish, but victory also wasn’t much of a question for the UCLA women’s basketball team on Friday.
The Bruins led by five at halftime against Big Ten foe and No. 4 seed Minnesota in a Sweet 16 match at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, but even not playing their best, UCLA was too much for the Golden Gophers to handle in the second half.
UCLA pulled away in the third quarter to take down a scrappy Minnesota squad 80-56 and advance to its second consecutive Elite Eight behind a gritty defensive performance on a night where the Bruins’ shooting was just a little off.
“I think we started to feed off of us getting stops,” UCLA coach Cori Close said. “Then when we got rewarded in transition a little bit more, that helped us as well. But I’m way more pleased how we adjusted defensively. I did not think it was one of our best offensive games.”
UCLA center Lauren Betts celebrates against Minnesota in the first half Friday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Kiki Rice led the Bruins with 21 points and Angela Dugalic nabbed her second double-double of the tournament with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Lauren Betts added 16 points and matched her season high with five blocks.
“It’s just coming out with a mentality that you’re just going to take away what they want to do,” Betts said. “You can talk about little details that we made. But I think it all starts with just that aggressive mentality that we were just going to come out and make things really hard for them, and I thought we did that and it just creates opportunities for us to play in transition.”
It was UCLA’s 28th consecutive victory, a streak that dates to November.
The Gophers’ 38% shooting from the field was their eighth lowest in a game this season and their 56 points were their third fewest this season.
“Our defense has to be our foundation and that has to be our anchors,” said Gianna Kneepkens, who had five points and five five assists. “It’s inevitable you’ll have scoring lulls, you can’t control that, so we have to put all our effort into defense.”
UCLA (34-1) hardly came out hot, but the Gophers (24-9) struggled to do anything in the opening quarter. Minnesota went four minutes without scoring, shooting 0 for 5 with three turnovers.
The Bruins, though, went cold on offense in the second quarter and Minnesota cut it to a three-point game despite committing turnovers and having several shots blocked.
UCLA went 0 for 6 from three-point range in the first half but led 34-29 at the break. Betts and Dugalic combined to hit 10 of 13 shots in the opening half, but the rest of the Bruins went six of 23.
UCLA’s Kiki Rice drives to the basket in front of Minnesota’s Brylee Glenn, far left, and Mara Braun during the first half Friday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
“We tightened up defensively,” Close said. “One of the things I was most proud of today is we really did not shoot it well, and we didn’t let missed shots, where we had nine missed layups in the first half, and then we didn’t make many threes, we shot 25% from the 3-point line, we didn’t let that dictate our defensive intensity.
“The motions of being frustrated on offense. That’s something we’ve been challenging them on. That was a huge growth area.”
The UCLA defense sealed the game, holding Minnesota to 33.3% shooting in the second half, and outrebounded the Gophers 37-31 overall while allowing just 22 points in the paint.
That was a key against a Minnesota squad that has the size to generate an inside-out offense, but just not enough against UCLA’s length.
UCLA’s Gabriela Jaquez shoots between Minnestoa defenders Sophie Hart, left, and Mara Braun in the first half Friday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
“They’re one of the top teams in the country when they get an offensive rebound or kick-out threes or production off of their offensive rebounds,” Close said. “When we were able to control rebounds and then get it into our guards’ hands quickly, that’s when you saw those great kick-aheads and decisions by Charlisse [Leger-Walker.]
“Charlisse’s play and some of her defensive plays and help in rotations were just excellent.”
Leger-Walker doled out eight assists with just one turnover in 30 minutes, and though she went scoreless from three-point range, she impacted the game.
“We know we have to be aggressive right now,” she said. “We’ve collectively experienced that in March. We know what it takes, it’s defense and it’s rebounding and moving the ball.”
On a night where one of their best offensive weapons was off, that was key. UCLA, whose 37.5% from three-point range is sixth in the NCAA, went four of 15 from deep. It was their fifth-worst three-point shooting game of the season.
Kneepkens and Leger-Walker, two of UCLA’s guards known for their shot, went 4-for-13 from the floor but took away space in their matchups throughout the game on the defensive side.
“The way they move their feet and how aggressive they’ve been lately has just been so amazing for me,” Betts said. “And I can just focus on my job of taking away their posts. Super proud of our guards and their physicality.”
UCLA will face the winner of No. 2 seed Louisiana State (29-5) versus No. 3 seed Duke (26-8) on Sunday.
