Lauren Betts scored 13 of her 17 points in the second half as No. 4 UCLA rallied from a 13-point third-quarter deficit to capture its first Big Ten tournament title with a 72-67 victory over No. 2 Southern California Sunday afternoon in Indianapolis.
The second-seeded Bruins (30-2) avenged two regular-season losses to the top-seeded Trojans (28-3) by holding Big Ten Player of the Year JuJu Watkins (29 points) scoreless during the defining 11-minute stretch of the second half.
The 6-foot-7 Betts finished with five rebounds, four steals and four blocks — two on Watkins in the fourth quarter — and Kiki Rice added 13 points and eight assists as UCLA made its pitch for the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
“We earned it. We worked our butts off,” said Betts, who was voted the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. “We stayed together. We learned. We could have given up after we lost to them back-to-back in the regular season — and we just weren’t done. That wasn’t enough. We would not be denied this game and I’m so friggin’ proud of everybody.”
USC also hopes to garner one of four No. 1 seeds when the field is revealed next week, but Trojans coach Lindsay Gottlieb tipped her hat to the Bruins.
“I thought whoever won this game should probably be the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament,” Gottlieb said. “You know, they got a win, and wish them well.”
Watkins finished 9 of 28 from the field and 9 of 10 from the foul line with six rebounds, four steals and five turnovers as UCLA’s Gabriela Jaquez hawked her with consistent help from other Bruins.
UCLA stayed within striking range for most of the second quarter and got as close as 36-35 when Londynn Jones (13 points) made a 3-pointer with 2:28 left in the half. But Watkins responded with six straight points as the Trojans took a 45-35 lead into the break.
Watkins led everyone with 18 points in the first half while Betts, playing with her shooting hand taped, was limited to four points on five shots in 18 minutes.
Talia Von Oelhoffen cashed a 3-pointer to open the third quarter, staking the Trojans to their biggest lead at 48-35, but the Bruins chipped away and Betts scored nine in the period to get UCLA within 54-52 entering the fourth.
With 8:54 to go, Betts drove to the basket and beat the shot clock with a layup that gave UCLA its first tie of the half. Then the Bruins fed Janiah Barker in the post for a jump hook that gave UCLA its first lead since midway through the first quarter.
While Watkins kept slashing to the basket unsuccessfully, USC finally snapped its six-minute-plus scoring drought with Kiki Iriafen’s pair of free throws with 5:55 to go.
Watkins scored her first points of the fourth quarter — two free throws — with 3:13 left to pull the Trojans within 62-58. Betts swatted another Watkins drive before Watkins got a 15-footer to go with 1:13 left to make it 64-60.
USC got as close as 70-67 with 4.2 seconds left as Watkins cashed a 3-pointer and a layup, but Jones sank two free throws to clinch it.
“I think we came out (of halftime) with the right energy, I just don’t think our shots were falling,” Watkins said. “We tried to get it back and we couldn’t.”
–Field Level Media
