Stanford guard Haley Jones (30) looks to shoot as UCLA forward Gabriela Jaquez (23) defends during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinals of the Pac-12 women's tournament Friday, March 3, 2023, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Chase Stevens)
LAS VEGAS — There will be no repeat Pac-12 tournament title for the No. 6 Stanford women’s basketball team.
Instead, the Cardinal suffered a shocking 69-65 loss to No. 19 UCLA Friday night as the Bruins advanced to the tournament’s championship game in Las Vegas on Sunday.
Kiki Rice scored 22 points while going 12 of 13 from the free-throw line, including 5 of 6 down the stretch to seal the win and send the Bruins to the title game against the winner of Friday’s late semifinal matchup between No. 20 Colorado and Washington State.
Emily Bessoir scored 14 points, Charisma Osborne added 13 and Gina Conti 11 for UCLA, which erased a 16-point third-quarter deficit.
Cameron Brink scored 19 points and had 11 rebounds to lead the Cardinal (28-5). Haley Jones finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
It marked just the second time UCLA beat Stanford in 13 meetings in the Pac-12 Tournament. The loss snapped Stanford’s two-year run as tournament champs.
Stanford, once one of the four presumptive top seeds for the NCAA Tournament, now faces less certainty as it awaits its NCAA berth.
The Bruins (25-8) used a 20-9 run to take a one-point lead, 60-59, after Jones was called for an offensive shove at one end of the floor and Rice buried a jumper just inside the 3-point stripe at the other end with two minutes left in the game.
The Cardinal (28-5) had a chance when Rice missed the back end of two free throws with 21 seconds left with the Bruins leading by two. But, UCLA’s Gina Conti grabbed the rebound, drew a foul, made two free throws to extend the UCLA lead to four.
Stanford darted out to a 9-2 lead to open the game, but the Bruins answered quickly with a 6-2 run. After a timeout, however, the Cardinal used a 6-0 run to close things out, as UCLA failed to score over the final 5:15 of the quarter. The Bruins made just three field goals, but committed five turnovers in the opening quarter.
UCLA managed to cut the deficit to five early in the second quarter, but Stanford’s stringent defense limited the Bruins offensively the rest of the half. As the Cardinal closed the half on a 13-5 run, the Bruins missed nine of their last 11 shots in the quarter.
UCLA hit just 8 of 30 (26.7%) in the first half, including 3 of 14 (21.4%) from 3-point range, while Stanford finished with 15-of-31 shooting (48.4%) in the first two quarters.
BIG PICTURE
UCLA: After shooting 31.1% (14 of 45) in the first three quarters, the Bruins hit 7 of 13 (53.8%) in the fourth quarter.
Stanford: The Cardinal had their seven-game Pac-12 Tournament win streak snapped. Stanford was seeking its third straight tournament title.
Originally published at W.G. Ramirez