After a few weeks off, the UCLA Lady Bruins must have been itching to get back on the court for the NCAA Tournament following their double overtime loss to rivals USC in the PAC-12 championship. It was particularly frustrating given they took both games against the Women of Troy during the regular season. 

The Bruins would be without their starter and leading scorer, center Lauren Betts, as she was ruled out a few hours before the game with a foot injury. So Gabriela Jaquez would stepped in to start for the Bruins, as they looked to take on the 15th-seeded Cal Baptist Lancers. Jaquez is the younger sister of former UCLA Men’s Hoops standout Jaime Jaquez, now in the NBA with the Miami Heat.

The Lancers had an excellent season, finishing first in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), and were looking forward to continuing their season. It would prove challenging, however, entering the game as a nearly 30-point underdog to 2-seed UCLA. 

UCLA won the tip and got off to a quick start, making a couple of three-pointers in succession. Then, following a pair of layups from Jaquez, the Bruins finished the first quarter ahead 17-8. With the Bruins still ahead 24-13 midway through the second quarter, the Lancers closed the gap to its smallest margin with an 8-0 run. Then, after a couple of fouls committed by UCLA, the Lancers were able to bring the game to within three points. 

While they came into the second quarter fired up, the Lancers would end up down by twelve points at the end of the half. Kiki Rice would end up hitting a three to stem the bleeding and get the Bruins back on track. Charisma Osborne, the Bruin’s second-leading scorer, finally started to get aggressive near the end of the half as she scored her first point with one minute left in the quarter. Struggling to find offense, the Lancers would finish the game shooting just 29 percent for the day.

The second half would be all Bruins, as they would widen their lead to 19 points and finish the third quarter ahead 57-38. Pushed along by their three leading scorers – Jacquez, Rice, and Osborne – the Bruins were all over the floor scoring 23 points in the quarter. The Bruins created that lead using their sizable rebounding advantage, including 15 offensive rebounds.

The Lady Bruins would cruise to an easy 29-point victory, 84-55, carried by Charisma Osborne who narrowly missed a triple-double finishing the night with 15 points, 15 rebounds, and 9 assists. When asked postgame about Kiki Rice’s narrow miss to give Osborne her tenth assist, Osborne commented, “Yeah I did know, but it’s ok, she’ll make the next one.” Jaquez would finish the game with 19 points and Kiki Rice would lead all scorers with 20 points. 

The Bruins look ahead to their next matchup on Monday the 25th against the 7th-seeded Creighton Bluejays. The Bruins will continue their potential championship run against a tough Creighton team that finished the season 26-5, good enough to be ranked 24th in the country and finish second in the Big East. 

Photo by the author.