The UCLA women’s basketball team needed that one after what has not been the easiest of weeks for the fourth-ranked Bruins.
They had suffered yet another loss to crosstown rival USC for the Big Ten regular-season title last Saturday, followed by the players initiating a let-it-all-out meeting, then opening the conference tournament with a closer-than-expected victory over 10th-seeded Nebraska on Friday.
All that led to an enormous exhale in the form of a 75-46 thumping of Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament semifinal Saturday in Indianapolis, setting the stage for a third shot at the Trojans with another trophy on the line.
Londynn Jones found her shooting stroke, hitting 8 of 16 from the field and 6 of 12 3-pointers for a game-high 22 points. Gabriela Jaquez sparked the Bruins early, scoring all 12 of her points in the first half on 5-of-5 shooting.
UCLA (29-2) now gets another crack at beating the No. 2 Trojans (28-2), who are responsible for the only blemishes on the Bruins’ record. USC advanced to the tournament final earlier Saturday after pulling away from Michigan for an 82-70 victory.
The Buckeyes came into the game ranked 13th in the country, having lost only four times – two coming during a rough trip to L.A. against UCLA and USC last month – and shooting 45.5% on the season and 34,3% from the 3-point line.
UCLA held Ohio State to 19-of-57 shooting (33.3%) and 3 of 10 from 3-point range. The Bruins, meanwhile, shot 32 of 63 (50.8%) and drilled 11 of 24 (45.8%) 3-pointers, all while racking up a 43-25 rebounding advantage.
The Bruins jumped out to a 22-8 lead after one quarter without star center Lauren Betts scoring, let alone tempting a shot. Instead, Jaquez led seven Bruins in scoring with seven points, as they shot 11 of 15 (73.3%) from the field.
Meanwhile, the Buckeyes opened shooting 3 for 14 (21.4%) in the first frame.
In the second quarter, Betts got cooking, cashing two layups for a 29-12 advantage with seven minutes until halftime.
Ohio State closed within 35-21 on a Jaloni Cambridge jumper with 3:09 left in the second quarter, but the Bruins went on a 9-0 run to close the half. Betts added a layup and jumper, followed by a Jones 3-pointer with 43 second left and a 17-footer from Jones just before the buzzer.
The Bruins finished the half 20 of 30 (66.7%) from the floor compared to 9 of 30 (30.0%) for the Buckeyes. Betts had eight points on 4-of-5 shooting, finishing the game 6 for 7 for 12 points.