UCLA women fall in final
No. 7 seed Washington State wins Pac-12 tournament title
WASHINGTON ST. 65 NO. 19 UCLA 61
LAS VEGAS — As UCLA players huddled closely on the court at Michelob Ultra Arena, a cannon shot confetti into the air. The Bruins weren’t the ones celebrating.
The No. 5-seeded Bruins lost 65-61 to Washington State in the Pac-12 tournament final Sunday, coming one win short of their first conference title since 2006.
Senior Charisma Osborne had a team-high 19 points, including eight in the fourth quarter to help the Bruins (25-9) trim an eightpoint deficit to two, but her potential game-tying threepointer was blocked with nine seconds left.
Behind tournament most outstanding player Charlisse Leger-Walker (23 points, seven rebounds, three assists) and center Bella Murekatete (21 points), the No. 7-seeded Cougars (23-10) became the lowest-seeded team to win the Pac-12 tournament.
A team that wasn’t even receiving votes in the Associated Press poll last week knocked off three ranked teams in as many games en route to Washington State’s first conference title and the
first Pac-12 championship for any women’s team at the school.
This year’s tournament included seven upsets by seeding, the most ever for the event, proving the depth of a Pac-12 Conference that could send as many as eight teams to the NCAA tournament.
With no championship trophy to take home Sunday, the Bruins took lessons from the cutthroat tournament as a consolation prize to set them up for the NCAA tournament.
“Every single time we’ve hit adversity, they’ve made really courageous choices of how to help that adversity teach their hearts and help make them different,” UCLA coach Cori Close said of her players. “We always say that you have to choose the pain of regret or the pain of discipline and right now we’re going to have to learn from some of the pain of regret. But if it helps us get a little bit more disciplined, especially with our half-court execution and our defensive game plan, then my hope is that it will drive us to [do] just that.”
Neither team trailed by more than eight points in a tight game that featured 13 lead changes and five ties. Clinging to a two-point lead after the third quarter, Washington State pushed ahead by making its first five shots of the fourth quarter.
Three came easily in the paint. The Bruins tried to keep pace with contested shots.
“The margin for error in these games is just so small,” Close said, “and they outexecuted us.”
Leger-Walker put the Cougars up by eight, their largest lead of the game, with 3:24 remaining. The deficit sparked Osborne’s offense as she scored four consecutive points and led UCLA on a 9-3 run that trimmed Washington State’s lead to two.
UCLA freshman Kiki Rice scored 11 of her 13 points in the second half but finished without an assist for the first time in the tournament.
She made two free throws with 23.3 seconds remaining to cut the lead to two, but after Leger-Walker missed one of two free throws to keep UCLA within one possession, Rice’s driving layup with 15 seconds dripped off the rim.
The Bruins got another opportunity on an out-ofbounds play, but Osborne’s three-point shot was blocked by Astera Tuhina, who had six points, six assists and two steals off the bench.
In her first postseason experience, Rice was chosen to the all-tournament team along with Osborne and UCLA forward Emily Bessoir, who scored 11 points with five rebounds Sunday. Rice averaged 14.5 points in the tournament, offering a glimpse of the top-rated point guard’s potential on the biggest stages.
“There were a few possessions … when we weren’t really on our A-game,” Rice said. “So I just think going forward knowing that every team is going to be great and they’re going to really be out there to execute, to really do what they do, so you just have to take away what they do best.”
Despite the loss, UCLA’s performance in Las Vegas should help the Bruins, who did not make the NCAA tournament last year, secure a top-four seed to host the first two rounds. They entered the tournament as a five-seed in ESPN’s projections.
‘You have to choose the pain of regret or the pain of discipline and right now we’re going to have to learn from some of the pain of regret.’
— UCLA coach
Cori Close