Kiki Rice put up 21 points to lead four scorers in double figures for top-seeded UCLA, and the Bruins overwhelmed Big Ten Conference counterpart Minnesota in the second half en route to an 80-56 win on Friday in an Women’s NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 game at Sacramento.
UCLA (34-1) moved one victory away from repeat Final Four trips thanks to a dominant second half that began right out of the locker room.
With their 28th consecutive win, the Bruins will head to the Sacramento Region 2 final on Sunday vs. third-seeded Duke. The Blue Devils edged second-seeded LSU 87-85 on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Ashlon Jackson.
The fourth-seeded Golden Gophers (24-9) trailed the Bruins by just three points late in the first half, but Gianna Kneepkens buzzer-beating layup marked the beginning of a 17-3 run that extended more than six minutes into the third quarter.
Through a combination of breakaway opportunities and pounding the ball to Lauren Betts on the interior, UCLA attacked the lane to ignite the decisive push. The Bruins finished with 52 points in the paint while allowing only 22 to Minnesota.
Rice fueled the Bruins’ second-half deluge, scoring 15 of her points on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor. She came alive after the duo of Betts and Angela Dugalic buoyed UCLA in the first half, with each scoring 10 points before intermission.
Dugalic finished with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting off the bench and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. Betts scored 16 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished three assists against Minnesota’s efforts to swarm her on the low block.
Gabriela Jaquez rounded out UCLA’s double-figure scorers with 10 points.
Grace Grocholski led Minnesota with 12 points and Sophie Hart added 11. Tori McKinney scored all nine of her points on 3-of-3 shooting from 3-point distance, including a pair in the first half as the Golden Gophers stayed close with the Bruins thanks in part to knocking down three triples.
UCLA went 0-for-6 from long range in the first half but rallied to shoot 4-for-10 from beyond the arc in the second half.
–Field Level Media
