The Creighton Bluejays gave UCLA everything they could handle Monday night at Pauley Pavillion but the Lady Bruins hung on to win a tight game, 67-63. The Bluejays by no means had any intentions of laying over for the higher-ranked Bruins. Finishing their regular season 26-3 in a typically competitive Big East conference, the Bluejays boasted an outstanding offense that averaged nearly 74 points a game and amassed the nation’s top free-throw shooting percentage at almost 83 percent. 

Starter Lauren Betts returned for UCLA after missing Saturday’s game against Cal Baptist and established herself early to get back into the flow of the game. She accounted for five out of UCLA’s six field goals in the quarter, towering over a smaller Creighton frontcourt by at least six inches. But Creighton would not make it easy on UCLA, as they hit 3 three-pointers in the first quarter, two by senior guard and leading scorer Lauren Jensen. In a tightly contested quarter, Creight would come out on top 20-19.

The second quarter though was a whole different story as the Bluejays shot the lights out with a 54 percent shooting percentage for the first half. Creighton would start to double-team Betts extensively early in the second quarter to answer her threat, throwing UCLA off its game. The Bruins continually forced the ball down low to Betts, and Creighton responded with two or three bodies at times. The Bluejays ate at the rim as the Bruins started to pressure the ball more. UCLA got off to an 8-0 run to start the quarter. UCLA’s Gabriela Jacquez, the “Swiss army knife” who didn’t get the start today but still played a substantial amount of minutes, would help slow down the Bluejays with a couple of layups and an assist. But ultimately the Bruins would go down at the half 42-34.

In the third quarter, the Bruins dusted themselves off and reestablish themselves behind the efforts of Kiki Rice, who would score 13 of her game-leading 24 points. The Bluejays were able to make a few jumpers, but UCLA would outscore them 22-14 for the quarter and bring the third quarter to a close tied up at 56 all. 

The fourth quarter was slow for both teams, as Creighton only managed 7 points down the stretch. The Bruins jumped out to their biggest lead of the game, seven points, with five minutes left in the game. That came off the back of a timely made three by Angela Dugalic and two baskets by Rice. 

The Bruins then launched into cruise control mode, trying to run out the clock – to which Creighton responded by showing some urgency in their offense – narrowing the gap back down two points at 63-65 with two minutes left. The Bruins, after not scoring a basket for nearly four and a half minutes, got what was probably the biggest shot of Charisma Osborne’s life when she nailed a jumper in the paint, one of her only two field goals on the day as she struggled against the Bluejays after dominating in Saturday’s contest. A big block on the other end by Dugalic would seal the deal, as the Bruins would hang on to win the game 67-63.

The Bruins head to Albany on Saturday, March 30 at 10:00 a.m. to take on the LSU Tigers, the reigning National Champions led by Angel Reese. While coming into the Creighton game with the higher seed, the Bruins might end up being the underdog to the nation’s third-highest-scoring offense.

The Lady Bruins will need all of us on Saturday – tune in!

Photo by the author.