Bruins enter deeper waters against Oklahoma
The UCLA women's basketball team had next to no depth in last year's postseason. This time around, it's the opposite. The Bruins have a deep bench that helped them beat Sacramento State 6745 in the first round of the NCAA tournament while barely breathing heavily.
That depth will figure in as fourth-seeded UCLA (26-9) goes deeper into the tournament, starting in the second round against No. 5 seed Oklahoma (266) tonight at 7
“We have so many different weapons that play against different styles,” UCLA coach Cori Close said. “So it may not be the same every single game through the tournament. But right now, I just want to make sure that we're mentally prepared and that we're completely selfless, and then we'll see what the game brings.”
Tonight's game will be at Pauley Pavilion, where the Bruins went 13-3 in the regular season. They'll host a Sooners team that beat Portland 85-63 in the first round on Saturday night.
Taylor Robertson led the Sooners in scoring with 14 points and Skylar Vann put up 11 points with 11 rebounds. Oklahoma leaned into a physical style of play against Portland and scored 34 points in the paint. “We like to establish the paint early,” Robertson said after the game. “That's one of our main focuses on the offensive end and defensive end. So just being aggressive early and playing from the inside out, and we were able to execute that well today.”
UCLA is making 32.5% of its shots from 3-point range, and three Bruins players shoot 34.6% or above in Gabriela Jaquez (34.6%), Londynn Jones (36.4%) and Emily Bessoir (36.9%).
“We know how lethal Emily can be out there,” freshman Kiki Rice said. “When she's hitting shots and playing well, our team is so much better. I think giving her that green light, she knows that whatever shot she takes we all think it's going in, and if it doesn't, we have her back.”
Oklahoma made 29 of 70 shots on Saturday and has overall scored an average of 84.5 points a game this season. The Sooners also shot 36% from deep against Portland, which is on par with their season average.
“Oklahoma is one of the most fast-paced teams,” Close said. “All of them are versatile and, obviously, they all shoot the three. It's going to be so important that we limit their transition points, limit threes, and that we really control possessions on the defensive end.”
Rice and fellow guard Charisma Osborne reigned against Sacramento State. The former scored 15 points and the latter had a double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Rice is a freshman but has started in more than 30 games this season, a number that only Jordin Canada and Lindsey Corsaro have surpassed for the Bruins in a freshman campaign. Osborne is finishing up her senior campaign with more than 1,500 career points and has one final game at Pauley Pavilion.
“I'm probably biased, but I do think it's the prettiest gym in the country,” Osborne said. “And it's just so fun to play with my teammates, have the coaches here, have my family here and all the fans. I've just been enjoying playing here so much.”
Tonight's winner will move on to play No. 1 seed and reigning champion South Carolina in the Sweet 16 on Saturday.