UCLA women left stunned in blowout loss to UConn in Final Four

TAMPA, Fla. — Passes glanced off their hands. Rebounds squirted out of bounds. The bright lights of a historic season blinded UCLA on the biggest stage.

Connecticut, appearing in its 16th Final Four in the last 17 NCAA tournaments, played like a team used to this moment, dominating UCLA 85-51 in the Final Four at Amalie Arena on Friday in the largest margin of victory in an NCAA women’s national semifinal.

Lost in a haze of 19 turnovers and 12 missed three-point shots, the Bruins (34-3) looked nothing like the team that earned the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed.

A season of breakthroughs for UCLA came to a crashing end in the national semifinals at the hands of the most decorated program in women’s basketball in Tampa, Fla.

UConn led from start to finish and maintained a double-digit lead after the first quarter as the Huskies rolled to the national title game with an 85-51 win over the Bruins, who were making their first Final Four appearance in the NCAA era.

UCLA (34-3) rose to the top of the AP rankings for the first time, knocked off defending champion South Carolina early in the season, avenged two bitter losses to USC in the Big Ten Conference tournament title game and grabbed the top overall seed in the NCAA tournament while setting a school record for wins.

But it all came to an end in a disjointed performance against UConn, which advanced to the national championship game for the 13th time and will face South Carolina on Sunday afternoon.

All-American center Lauren Betts had a game-high 26 points for the Bruins, who committed 19 turnovers and shot only 38.5% from the field and attempted only eight free throws. Betts shot 11 of 18 from the field while the rest of her teammates shot nine for 34.

The Bruins’ 51 points were a season low.

The Huskies (36-3) were led by freshman forward Sarah Strong, who scored 22 points. Azzi Fudd added 19, all in the first half, while Paige Bueckers had a relatively modest 16 points after three straight tournament games with at least 30 points.

UConn will be seeking its 12th national title, the most in women’s basketball, and first since 2016. It will be a rematch of the 2022 title game, in which the Gamecocks handled the Huskies, 64-49 — the only time UConn lost a championship game.

UConn has a 68-41 lead over UCLA with 6:41 to go in the fourth quarter as the Huskies look to be a safe bet to reach the title game for the 13th time in their program’s history.

Lauren Betts is up to 21 points for the Bruins on 9-of-15 shooting. Outside of her, UCLA is shooting 7 for 30 from the field and has accounted for 20 points.

Sarah Strong is leading UConn with 22 points, with Azzi Fudd adding 19 and Paige Bueckers 16.

UConn has built a 60-37 lead over UCLA through three quarters as the Huskies look primed to square off with South Carolina on Sunday for the national championship.

The Bruins continued to struggle to gain any traction on offense outside of Lauren Betts, who has 17 points. Kiki Rice has eight points, but UCLA has gotten little else on offense. Gabriela Jaquez, who hit several big shots and scored 18 points in the Elite Eight win over LSU, is scoreless through three quarters and has missed all five of her shots from the field.

A stat that bears watching: UCLA’s season low for points is 60 in its first loss of the season on Feb. 13 against USC.

UConn, meantime, has gotten a balanced attack thanks to Azzi Fudd (19 points), Sarah Strong (18 points) and Paige Bueckers (12 points).

UConn has a 50-28 advantage over UCLA with 4:54 to go in the third quarter as the Huskies’ dominance has carried over into the second half.

Lauren Betts is up to 15 points on 7-of-13 shooting, but the rest of the Bruins have 13 points on 5-of-19 shooting. Kiki Rice has seven points but she is the only UCLA player outside of Betts to shoot a free throw in this game.

UCLA has an uphill climb in the second half.

UConn has built a 42-22 halftime advantage over the Bruins, who committed 14 turnovers in the first two quarters and have gotten little else on offense outside of Lauren Betts.

The star center has 11 points but little else has gone right as UConn piled up nine steals in the first half. The Bruins only had three assists, the fewest they’ve had in a half this season.

The 22 points scored by UCLA is the fewest allowed by UConn in a first half this season.

Paige Bueckers has only six points on 3-of-10 shooting but her teammates have more than picked up the slack — led by Azzi Fudd, who has 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including three three-pointers.

Looking for a sliver of hope as a UCLA fan? The Bruins trailed by 13 points early in the second half against USC in the Big Ten Conference tournament title game. But UCLA had 35 points at that stage of the game.

UCLA has yet to find another gear as UConn has built a 39-22 advantage with 1:32 to go in the second quarter after Bruins coach Cori Close called timeout following a layup by Kaitlyn Chen off a touch pass from Paige Bueckers.

UConn leads UCLA, 29-17, with 4:57 to go in the second quarter as the Huskies have scored 14 points off 10 Bruins turnovers.

Lauren Betts has scored 11 of UCLA’s 17 points thus far on 5-of-9 shooting and has scored her team’s last nine points. The rest of the Bruins are 3 of 9 from the floor. Gabriela Jaquez, who was a spark in UCLA’s Elite Eight win over LSU, is scoreless and has missed both of her shot attempts thus far.

Azzi Fudd leads UConn with 11 points while Paige Bueckers has four points.

UConn has taken a 23-13 lead over UCLA after one quarter as the Huskies closed the period on an 8-2 run.

Lauren Betts has seven points to lead the Bruins, who committed six turnovers in the first quarter. This is the largest deficit UCLA has encountered after one quarter this season.

UConn has gotten eight points from Sarah Strong and seven points from Azzi Fudd. Paige Bueckers has hit two shots, including a jumper at the buzzer, and has four points thus far.

UConn holds a 15-10 lead over UCLA with 3:05 to go in the first quarter with a free throw to come for Lauren Betts after she was fouled by Sarah Strong underneath on a layup.

Both teams are shooting well, with the Bruins having hit five of their first eight shots. The Huskies, meanwhile, are 7 for 13 from the floor (53.8 percent). All five starters have scored for UConn, with Strong leading the way with five points. Lauren Betts is leading the Bruins with four points thus far.

South Carolina, the defending national champion, knocked off Texas 74-57 in the first NCAA Final Four semifinal and will face the winner of the nightcap between UCLA and UConn, set to start in a matter of minutes.

The Bruins (34-2), the No. 1 overall seed in this year’s tournament, is fresh off a breakthrough 72-65 victory over Louisiana State in the Elite Eight and is in their first NCAA Final Four. The second-seeded Huskies (35-3), meanwhile, are appearing in their 24th Final Four following a 78-64 victory over top-seeded USC in the Elite Eight. UConn is shooting for its 12th national title, all under coach Geno Auriemma, and first since 2016.

Whichever program advances would be facing a Gamecocks team it defeated during the regular season. UCLA knocked off South Carolina in November in a win that vaulted the Bruins to their first No. 1 AP ranking ever. UConn collected a resounding 87-58 win at South Carolina in February.

Starting lineups:

UCLA

Angela Dugalic (F)

Lauren Betts (C)

Gabriela Jaquez (G)

Londynn Jones (G)

Kiki Rice (G)

UConn

Sarah Strong (F)

Jana El Alfy (C)

Kaitlyn Chen (G)

Azzi Fudd (G)

Paige Bueckers (G)

Before examining the film to show what went wrong, UCLA starts every practice with everything that went right. Players hone in on their phone screens, each watching a personal three-minute highlight clip. The routine is as important to UCLA’s daily schedule as stretching and on-court practice.

“It’s not mind-hope or mind-maybe. It’s mindset,” UCLA coach Cori Close said. “You have to set your mind on the right things.”

Southern’s Tionna Lidge barely jumped for the opening tip. With UCLA’s Lauren Betts on the other side, the result seemed inevitable.

Betts had 14 points and six rebounds Friday as No. 1-seeded UCLA cruised to an 84-46 win over No. 16 Southern in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Pauley Pavilion. UCLA set a program record for the largest margin of victory in an NCAA tournament game, besting a 75-43 thrashing of Texas A&M in 2017.

All Nike-sponsored schools playing in the NCAA tournament wear different colors of the same warmup shirt. The now-ubiquitous long-sleeve white shirt has “Nothing Easy” printed on the front in bold letters. An emphatic period punctuates the sentence and each school’s logo is printed underneath.

What makes UCLA’s otherwise cookie-cutter postseason look stand out is on the back: “We” printed over a horizontal bar and “me.”

The crowd at Pauley Pavilion rose as one as the seconds ticked down. This second half deserved a standing ovation.

UCLA claimed an 84-67 win over No. 8-seed Richmond in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Sunday, using an extended 23-2 run in the third quarter to blow open a close game and advance to a third consecutive Sweet 16. The tournament’s No. 1 overall seed will face No. 5 Mississippi in the Regional 1 semifinal in Spokane, Wash., on Friday. Mississippi upset No. 4 Baylor 69-63 in the second round.

SPOKANE, Wash. — Kiki Rice remembers the feeling. The bitter emotions she felt sitting on the training table in UCLA’s locker room in Albany, N.Y., while processing yet another Sweet 16 loss.

A year later the shock has worn off, but the disappointment has remained. UCLA’s star point guard wants to make her third trip to the NCAA regional semifinal the charm.

SPOKANE, Wash. — When UCLA signed the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class in 2022, the program-changing prospects immediately flashed their potential by leading the Bruins to the Sweet 16. Opposing coaches were impressed, telling UCLA coach Cori Close that the freshmen would be so good “one day.”

Internally, Gabriela Jaquez squirmed each time she heard the praise.

SPOKANE, Wash. — Cori Close pulls up the year-old film for clues. The UCLA coach searches clips of UCLA’s Sweet 16 loss to Louisiana State last year for reminders of sets to run, defensive game plans that could work and mistakes to be rectified as the teams meet again in the Elite Eight on Sunday. But Close’s most obvious takeaway goes beyond UCLA’s own scouting report.

It’s that Lauren Betts isn’t just good anymore. The 6-foot-7 center has crossed over to dominant.

SPOKANE, Wash. — This time, everything came together when it mattered most.

Lauren Betts made sure of it, following one powerful move with another.

SPOKANE, Wash. — The giddy players took turns posing for photos with the regional championship trophy. Some posed alone, some in groups, some with their parents. Student managers, coaches and other staffers had done the same.

Waiting for her turn as she stood on the confetti-strewn court inside Spokane Arena, Denise Curry was in no hurry after the UCLA women’s basketball team had logged its most significant triumph since she starred for the Bruins more than 40 years ago.

Dave Marcus has cycled through dozens of players and hundreds of games, seasons both good and bad. In his more than two decades on the job, the voice of UCLA women’s basketball has often seen one — and sometimes two — teams from the Bruins’ conference advance to the game’s biggest stage, making him wonder when he might be able to say something like he did Sunday.

Finally, after Kiki Rice made two free throws in the final seconds and the buzzer sounded inside Spokane Arena, Marcus unleashed those sweet words.

TAMPA, Fla. — If at first UCLA coaches don’t sign a recruit, they try, try again.

Relying on years of relationships fostered through high school recruiting, the Bruins have navigated the fast-paced transfer portal to make a super team no one seems to talk about.

Here’s what you need to know about No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 2 Connecticut in NCAA tournament women’s Final Four:

When: Friday, 6:30 p.m. PDT