The Los Angeles 2028 US Olympic Committee will get a preview of how great holding the Beach Volleyball Olympics in the South Bay could be when Smackfest returns to Seaside Lagoon in King Harbor on Saturday, April 12. Play begins at 12:15 p.m., accompanied by live bands, food, beer, wine, and cocktails. 21 and over. For more information, visit SmackFest.com.
by Paul Teetor
It was the worst loss in Final Four history.
Think about that reverse superlative again: Worst. Loss. In. Final. Four. History.
The numbers say it was a 34-point loss.
The reality was even worse.
The UCLA women’s basketball team got out played, out hustled, and most of all out-coached in Friday night’s devastating 85-51 loss to the University of Connecticut in the NCAA Final Four.
The game was effectively over in the first five minutes as UConn grabbed a 4-0 lead and just kept going while the Bruins looked like they were running in mud, their muscles paralyzed by the magnitude of the moment and by the big bad Huskies attacking them from all angles.
From the opening tip-off UConn forced turnover after turnover as the Bruins looked scared and stunned and overwhelmed by the moment – their first Final Four appearance in school history.
UCLA Coach Cori Close admitted her team was badly overmatched after the beatdown was finally, mercifully over.
“We got exposed. We got out-toughed. We got our butts beat today,” Close said. “And it stings right now. And may the pain of that regret and this loss buy us a ticket, if handled well, buy us a ticket to be better the next time hopefully we get this opportunity.”
But the players aren’t the only ones who have to be better the next time the Bruins make it to a Final Four – if indeed there is a next time. Nothing is guaranteed in life — and especially in big-time college sports.
The brutal truth is that Close herself has to be better.
A lot better.
Not so much in her pre-game preparation. But she has to be quicker in her in-game decision making, and more creative in solving unexpected problems as they crop up in the course of a game – especially in the first few minutes of a game, when the flow, the tone and the dynamic of the game is set.
Going into the game the strategy for each team was obvious. They each had one superstar – scoring machine Paige Bueckers for UConn, 6-foot-7 post monster Lauren Betts for UCLA. And each team had a stellar supporting cast led by fabulous freshman Sarah Strong for UConn and slick point guard Kiki Rice for UCLA.
The teams were so evenly matched – UCLA a number one seed, UConn a number two seed – that it all came down to which coach utilized their star players better.
Advantage UConn and Coach Geno Auriemma, the winningest coach in women’s history.
He was certain UCLA would spread the floor with four players on the perimeter, position Betts under the basket and try to make entry passes to her for easy buckets – just as they had all season on their way to a glittering 34-2 record.
Indeed, he was so sure of it that instead of using the conventional tactic of double-teaming Betts after she caught the ball and started to make her move to the hoop, he double-teamed her before the entry pass was even thrown. That tactic alone resulted in a flurry of deflections, which in turn led to fast break buckets that gave UConn the early momentum.
So what did Close do when it became obvious that Plan A wasn’t working? She doubled down on it and kept instructing her players to force passes into Betts even as Betts became frustrated at all the steals and easy layups resulting from them.
No adjustments for UCLA. No Plan B. Just more of the same as the Bruins fell behind by 10 points at the end of the first quarter and by 20 at halftime.
Meanwhile, Auriemma, who has now been to the Final Four 17 times and won 12 titles, employed a much different strategy for his superstar. Knowing that Bueckers would be double teamed every time she touched the ball, he designed plays where she got the ball on the perimeter and on the move. Then, when UCLA would scramble to double-team her, she used her mobility and excellent handle to evade them and find her teammates for wide-open shots.
The result was devastating for UCLA.
The Huskies shot 55% (33 for 60) from the field and 43.8% (7 for 16) from behind the three-point arc with just seven turnovers. Strong was their top scorer with 22 points, one of the few games all year when Bueckers did not lead her team in scoring.
Bueckers, the likely top pick in the WNBA draft on April 14, finished with 16 points after topping 30 in each of the previous three games for the Huskies, who are now 36-3.
“If Paige had 16 last year, we wouldn’t have made it to the Final Four,” Auriemma said. “If she had the game she had today the previous year, it would be almost impossible for us to win.”
Kiki Rice was the second-leading scorer for UCLA, which finished the season 34-3, with eight points. No other Bruin scored more than six as UCLA, in its first NCAA Tournament Final Four appearance, shot 38.5% (20 for 52) from the field, 25.0% (4 for 16) from 3-point range and committed 19 turnovers.
UConn got off to a hot start with Strong and Azzi Fudd leading the way. Even when shots looked off, they found their way in. Fudd, one of the best shooters in the country whose career at UConn has been interrupted by multiple injuries, banked in a 3-pointer from the top of the key, prompting Auriemma to throw his arms in the air and smile.
“It’s just so much fun to watch her play with joy and be at this stage,” Bueckers said of Fudd. “You see all the ups and downs, the bad days, the good days and to be at this spot where it’s the light at the end of the tunnel and for her to perform and be at this stage, it means everything to us.”
The Huskies led 23-13 at the end of the first quarter. They continued the onslaught behind Fudd to open a 42-22 advantage at the break. Bueckers had the play of the game with a touch pass in the air to Kaitlyn Chen for a layup late in the second quarter.
UCLA never threatened in the second half as Betts had little help from her teammates. UConn ended up breaking its own record for margin of victory in the Final Four or national title game when the Huskies won the 2013 title by 33 points over Louisville.
UCLA cruised through its best regular season ever, earning the No. 1 ranking in the AP Top 25 for the first time and holding the top spot for 14 weeks.
The Bruins only lost twice this year before Friday, both to JuJu Watkins and USC. The Bruins set a program record for wins in a season and won 23 consecutive games, including 22 in a row by double digits.
But on Friday, the awful ending had Betts in tears.
While Close avoided the issue that cost them the game, Rice put her finger on it.
“A lot of it was self-inflicted,” Rice said. “I feel like there wasn’t always connection between both the passer and the receiver all the time on the court because they were just able to get in front, get hands on the ball.”
She didn’t say it for obvious reasons, but responsibility for that kind of lack of communication falls directly on Coach Close.
She has to do better and coach smarter next time.
All Ball is confident she will – if she gets another chance.
Contact: teetor.paul@gmail.com. ER
