PHOENIX (AP) — UCLA’s bid to play for a first NCAA championship came to a harsh end with a blowout loss to eventual national champion UConn in the women’s Final Four.
The Bruins are back, along with the rest of last year’s Final Four teams, and hope to have better luck in the desert.
Standing in the way is Texas, the only team to be the beat them in what was otherwise a dominating season.
“For us, it’s just coming out ready to go,” UCLA guard Gabriela Jaquez said on Thursday. “The main thing is being ready to play, coming out to get every loose ball, play as a team, just playing like we know how to play.”
The Bruins (35-1) spent most of the season pushing around opponents, winning by an average of 20.9 points per game — fifth nationally — on their way to a school record for wins.
The Longhorns (35-3) became the bully when the teams met Nov. 26 at the Players Era Championship in Las Vegas.
Texas’ physical guards harried the Bruins into a string of turnovers to lead by 20 at halftime and staved off UCLA’s late charge to win 76-65. UCLA also had a hard time getting the ball to All-American center Lauren Betts, who had a season-low eight points on just eight shots.
“Coming out with a certain level of aggression is important and I’m going to make sure I do that,” Betts said.
UCLA rebounded to beat Duke by 30 the next day, kicking off a school-record streak of 28 straight wins that included four double-digit wins in the NCAA Tournament.
The Longhorns kept rolling, opening the season with 18 straight wins before consecutive setbacks at No. 5 LSU and No 4 South Carolina. The losses frustrated Texas coach Vic Schaefer, but his irritation peaked a month later with a 16-point loss at Vanderbilt that had him saying his team was “soft” and “had no heart.”
The Longhorns responded by dominating every team they went against after that, winning 12 straight games by an average of 26.5 points per game. That included a 17-point win over South Carolina in the SEC tournament title game and four straight NCAA Tournament blowouts in which they allowed an average of 49.4 points per game.
Texas, in the Final Four for the fifth time, is seeking its first national championship since going undefeated in 1986.
“Right now, they’re playing as good as any team I’ve ever had,” said Schaefer, in his fifth season as Texas’ coach.
Limiting turnovers
A huge key in Friday’s second Final Four game will be whether UCLA can handle Texas’ pressure.
The Longhorns hounded the Bruins into 20 turnovers, converting those into 18 points.
UCLA had similar problems taking care of the call against Duke in the Elite Eight, turning it over 12 times to trail at halftime for the second time this season. The Bruins rallied from the eight-point deficit to win 70-58, but finished with 18 turnovers.
The Longhorns have big, physical guards who put constant pressure on ballhandlers, a big reason they force 22 turnovers per game.
All-American impact
Another key will be the performance of the teams’ two first-team AP All-Americans.
Betts had a dominating season, averaging 18.5 points and 7.6 rebounds while shooting 60.1% from the field to be named an All-American for the second straight season — a year after becoming the program’s first women’s All-American. She’s the fourth player in NCAA history with at least 600 points, 300 rebounds, 100 assists and 70 blocks in a season.
Texas junior Madison Booker has the size of a forward at 6-foot-1, but the skills of a guard, making her a brutal matchup for any opposing team.
Booker averaged 19.3 points on 51.6% shooting, 6.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists and led the team with 83 steals. She’s the only player in women’s NCAA history with at least 1,500 points, 900 assists, 600 rebounds and 350 steals.
Numbers
Schaefer is the only coach in women’s Division I history to lead two programs to multiple Final Fours. He took Mississippi State to the national title game in 2017 and 2018. … UCLA won an AIAW national championship in 1978, four years before the NCAA began running women’s college basketball. … Texas has held an opponent to single digits scoring in a quarter 28 times this season and has forced 30 5-second violations. … The Longhorns had 16 wins against ranked opponents this season, UCLA 14. … UCLA’s starting five accounts for 79.2% of its scoring at 67.2 points per game.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
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