UCLA Women Stuns No.1 Seed Stanford in Pac-12 Semifinals

By | Bullscore 4 Mar, 2023

Friday night in Women’s college basketball tournament saw another upset for a top-seeded team.

UCLA Women’s Basketball defeated No. 1 seed, Stanford 69-65 in the Pac-12 tournament’s semifinal on Friday night. With the stunning win over Stanford, UCLA women reached the Pac-12 Championship game which will be played on Sunday, March 5 in Las Vegas.

The Bruins will either face Washington state or Colorado in the Pac-12 title game. The huge upset came just after Washington State’s master stroke over Utah on Thursday. Washington State ended all the hopes for Utah Utes to become the No.1 seed in the upcoming March Madness of NCAA tournament.

It was the Bruins’ first win over the Cardinals in the last two years and their excellent comeback in the second half of the game kept their hopes alive to win the first conference tournament title since 2006.

HUGE UPSET IN VEGAS ‼️ pic.twitter.com/X8fDGNuneC
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) March 4, 2023

UCLA was overpowered by Stanford throughout the entire game with a lead of 16 points at the end of halftime. However, Kiki Rice kept the Bruins in the game with most of the scoring, and in the fourth quarter of the game, UCLA made a strong comeback and gain a lead of 9-2.

However, Stanford makes a comeback in the last two minutes of the game with a pair of layups and two free throws. But, Rice and Charisma Osborne in those last remaining minutes turned the coin in favor of UCLA with a combined 9-points to get a stunning 4-point win over the Cardinals.

Rice, a former McDonald’s All-American, led all scorers with 22 points, five rebounds, and five assists, setting a new career high. Bessoir scored 14 points with six rebounds, Osborne scored 13 points, and Conti scored 11.

Haley Jones finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Cameron Brink contributed 19 points and 11 rebounds for Stanford in the defeat. According to ESPN’s Charlie Creme, despite the defeat, Stanford is still on course to earn the top seed in the NCAA tournament.

As for UCLA, they will play for the seventh time in the Pac-12 tournament championship game in the history of the program on Sunday afternoon. They will play against the winner of the game between No. 3 seed Colorado and No. 7 seed Washington State.

ESPN2 will broadcast the Championship game, which begins at 2 p.m. from Michelob ULTRA Arena.