Women’s basketball ends NCAA Tournament run with loss to No. 1 UConn

Daily Bruin BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Women’s college basketball is a different world in Connecticut.
During the No. 4-seeded Bruins’ (25-9, 13-5 Pac-12) 86-71 loss to the No. 1 overall seed UConn Huskies (35-0, 16-0 American Athletic Conference) in the Sweet 16, the team didn’t want the atmosphere and situation to affect them.
Regardless of UConn’s four consecutive national titles or its 109-game winning streak that would be extended to 110, UCLA wanted to play the same. It didn’t want to be intimidated.
“I thought we were prepared,” said coach Cori Close. “I thought we believed in what we were doing.”
[Related: Coach Cori Close studies basketball at every court she steps on]
Despite the size disadvantage at every position and the fact that the stadium was packed with people, the Bruins came out like they usually do.
Junior guard Jordin Canada scored a crafty layup around the basket. Redshirt senior Kari Korver hit a 3.
Less than three minutes into the game, the Bruins were up 9-2. Maybe this would be just another game of basketball.
But it wasn’t.
Uconn immediately went on a 35-9 run with forwards Gabby Williams and Napheesa Collier dominating the boards, combining for 44 points and 23 rebounds in the game.
“We had some mental lapses in the second quarter,” Canada said. “That’s when they got on their run. For a second we looked defeated, and that’s when they capitalize on their opportunities to score in transition and get offensive rebounds.”
It wasn’t the first first mental lapse the Bruins had this season, but the Huskies are a uniquely talented team, different than any team UCLA had seen before.
There is nothing normal about UConn’s guard Katie Lou Samuelson being able to dribble like a point guard, shoot like a 3-point specialist and still be as tall as any player on UCLA.
She helped orchestrate ...


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