No. 2 UCLA women top No. 11 Ohio State to reach Big Ten Tournament final
INDIANAPOLIS — The top-seeded UCLA women’s basketball team never felt pressure Saturday.
On multiple occasions, fifth-seeded Ohio State would cut the deficit to single digits. It didn’t matter.
The Bruins, ranked second in the country, would punch back on all of the Buckeyes’ momentum en route to a 72-62 victory in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals as they search for a second consecutive conference championship.
“I thought our responses were really good and we started out the right way,” UCLA coach Cori Close said. “It was more so the energy that we were playing with … I challenged our bench. I said, ‘If nothing else, when you come in, you should have pride to get a passion play.’”
The win was UCLA’s 24th consecutive and extended its perfect run in the Big Ten.
While not playing its best game, UCLA still outmatched the Buckeyes and will look to do the same in the Big Ten Tournament championship game Sunday against second-seeded Iowa or third-seeded Michigan.
The game was relatively close, but the Bruins (30-1, 18-0) always had a comfortable advantage and made clutch shots when needed.
No. 11 Ohio State (26-7, 13-5) had a chance to cut the deficit to five late, but Jaloni Cambridge missed a layup, which sealed the win as the Bruins were consistently leading by about 10.
The Bruins’ offense was simply better. They made more than six shots on three more attempts in the first half. That said, they finished the half shooting 0 of 7 from the field.
Kiki Rice was UCLA’s biggest contributor with 17 points and eight rebounds, facilitating the transition in a balanced offense.
UCLA’s stacked roster was on display as it didn’t need anyone to take on the heavy lifting. Five players scored in double figures – the Bruins took more shots and made more shots.
“This group of girls that we have together is not normal. I mean, to be in these type of games, you’re definitely going to need every single person,” Bruins 6-foot-7 center Lauren Betts said. “I’m proud of how everyone had the confidence to just step up.”
Betts, who came into the game leading UCLA with 17.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per game, had 14 points and nine rebounds, but her defense was more impactful. The Buckeyes were flustered at times and committed 15 turnovers on the day.
The Bruins’ defense got off to an early start and turned it into offense. They wouldn’t let the Buckeyes drive inside. Ohio State’s only option was from deep and UCLA’s size advantage was impactful.
“Defense is something we pride ourselves on. We have a ton of moving guards all around, so just creating havoc, disrupting people’s possessions,” Rice said.
Ohio State came into Saturday as the seventh-best 3-point shooting team in the Big Ten, but it needed to connect from deep. The Buckeyes would improve from inside, finishing with 15 layups, but it was too little too late – the Bruins’ lead was already established.
The Bruins also contained Cambridge, Ohio State’s top scorer, who scored only 12 points. Chance Gray had a big game for the Buckeyes with 23 points – it still wasn’t enough.
UCLA’s win proved yet again that it is a juggernaut against the rest of the conference. The last time it faced Ohio State, it won by only seven. Saturday was also a tight deficit, but the win never seemed in jeopardy.
The Bruins took a 32-21 lead at halftime, and despite the second half being relatively even, they never looked back.
“We would love to make it a little cleaner and be able to find touches for certain mismatches that we were trying to take advantage of,” Close said. “I credit Ohio State for making that difficult for us. They weren’t going to let us just run the things that we wanted to run.”