2 Seed UConn Huskies 1 Seed UCLA Bruins 35-3 34-2
Friday, April 4, 2025
Time: 9:30
Amelia Arena
Tampa, Florida
TV: ESPN
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Prior Match ups
UCLA | UCONN LEADS 7-1
H: 1-0 | A: 2-0 | N: 4-1
11/17/98 #2 UConn 113, UCLA 102 Los Angeles, Calif.
12/23/99 #1 UConn 106, UCLA 64 Storrs, Conn.
12/21/14 #2 UConn 86, UCLA 50 Uncasville, Conn.
03/25/17 #1 UConn 86, #15 UCLA 71 Bridgeport, Conn.
11/21/17 #1 UConn 78, #5 UCLA 60 Los Angeles, Calif.
03/29/19 #2 UConn 69, #20 UCLA 61 Albany, N.Y
12/11/21 #3 UConn 71, UCLA 61 Newark, N.J.
11/24/23 #2 UCLA 78, #6 UConn 67 Cayman Islands
UCLA Season to Date
What a great year to date for the UCLA Bruins. They have only lost two games this year (so far!) and both of them were to the team UConn just beat USC. They lost at USC 71-60 on February 13th and then at home on March 1st 80-67. They did get retribution, beating the Trojans 72-67 in the BIG TEN finals.
Among their best wins was a beat down of South Carolina 77-62.
They have had a solid NCAA tournament, easily winning their 1-16 game against Southern 84-46, beating 8 seeded Richmond 84-67, taking it to 5 seed Ole Miss 76-62 in the Sweet Sixteen and then finally a 72-65 win over 3 seed LSU in the Elite Eight to get to the Final Four and their matchup against the Huskies.
Comparative Team Statistics
(leader in bold)
UConn UCLA
81.6 PPG 78.7
52.0 Defensive PPG 57.9
29.6 Scoring Margin 20.8
50.9 Field Goal % 48.2
34.6 Defensive FG% 35.2
38.3 Three Point % 33.7
28.9 Defensive 3PT% 29.0
76.4 Free Throw % 72.8
37.0 Rebounds/Game 42.9
5.9 Rebounding Margin 12.3
21.0 Assists per game 20.4
10.7 Turnover per game 15.1
2.0 Assists/TO ratio 1.4
11.4 Steals per game 7.2
4.1 Blocks per game 5.4
UCONN
The player and coaches names for both teams
are clickable to see their Bios
are clickable to see their Bios
UConn Starters
UConn Injuries
Had surgery on her ankle. Out for the season
Had surgery on 12/16. Out for the Season
UCLA
UCLA Bench
Transfer from Oregon State
Transfer from Texas A&M
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Game Analysis
This is a real interesting matchup. Both teams are terrific offensively and defensively.
Offensive Rankings
UConn is 1st in FG percentage, 3rd in assists per game, 1st in assists/TO ratio, 9th in scoring offense, 5th in three point percentage.
UCLA is 6th in FG percentage, 4th in assists per game, 11th in assists/to ratio, 18th in scoring offense.
Defensive Rankings
UConn is 4th in defensive FG%, 39th in Rebounding Margin, 1st in scoring defense, 17th in steals per game.
UCLA is 6th in defensive FG%, 6th in rebounds per game, 2nd in rebounding margin, 11th in Blocks per game (Betts), 44th in scoring defense.
Clearly UCLA has the advantage in rebounding. It's a huge part of their game. UConn is just the most efficient offensive team in the country. Both are very good defensive teams.
On to the players. I posted 8 players for UCLA but I am no sure they will go that deep with that many players out there for double digit minutes. They didn't in the LSU game.
UCLA STARTERS
The star of the team and the most indispensable player is 6'7" Junior Center Lauren Betts. She leads the team in scoring at 20 PPG, rebounding at 9.6 RPG, Blocks at 3 per game. She is 5th in the country in BPG. She leads the team in free throws attempted but only hits them at 61%. That can be an issue in a game like this where every point will matter. She is shooting a terrific 64.9% from the field, 4th in the country. Betts is just a load in the middle. You can't move her and she will move her defender to get position in the paint. She has excellent hands and solid moves to the basket. UConn's bigs will have to work hard to slow her down. The Huskies did a good job last year when they played holding her to 13 points and 7 rebounds and she didn't block a shot.
KiKi Rice, their 5'11" Junior point guard, is the only other double digit scorers on the team. She is averaging 12.4 PPG and 5 assist. She has 167 assists and 70 turnovers, a very good assist/turnover ratio. Rice leads the team in steals with 48. She only takes around 2.5 threes per game making them at a 36.1% clip. Rice was the difference maker in last seasons UCLA win over UConn. She almost had a triple double with 24 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists. It was probably the best game of her career.
Gabriela Jaquez, a 6' Junior Guard, is a jack of all trades for UCLA. She is averaging 9.9 PPG, 5.2 RPG and a solid 76/32 Assist/TO ratio. She is the only other player besides Betts to shoot better than 50%, with 53.5%. She is a good three point shooter as well at 36%. She came off the bench in last years game and scored 7 points and grabbed 6 rebounds against UConn.
Londynn Jones is a 5'4" Junior Guard. This mighty mite just loves the three point shot. Last season she broke the UCLA record for three pointers made. And this year she has taken over 200 three pointers. Shooting an OK 35%, the Huskies will have to keep an eye on her. She is averaging 8.7 PPG. Her issue is that if she doesn't take three pointers she is only shooting 33.6% on two pointers. She had a tough game against UConn last year going 1-5 from the field and all three pointers.
Angela Dugalić is the final starter. The 6'4" Grad Student forward. She is averaging 7.4 PPG and 5.7 RPG. She also takes care of the ball with a solid assist to turnover ratio of 80/54. She is second on the team in blocks with 28 on the season. She had a tough game in last years matchup going 1-7 from the field and going 1-3 on threes for her only points. She did grab 7 rebounds so her effort wasn't a total loss.
UCLA BENCH
Timea Gardiner is a 6'3" Grad Student Forward is a transfer from Oregon State. She is averaging 7.7 PPG and 3.5 RPG. She can really shoot the ball, hitting her three pointers at 39.9%. She was brought in to hit three pointers and that is about all she can contribute. But she could hit a couple of big ones. It's not a good idea to leave her open. Timea was not on the team the last time UConn played UCLA.
Janiah Barker, a 6'4" Junior forward is a transfer from Texas A&M. The perennial underachiever is still not playing to what was her expected level when she was first coming into WCBB. This year she is averaging only 17.4 MPG. Scoring 7.4 PPG and grabbing 6 RPG there has always been a "I want to see more" attitude from the fans. She is shooting a solid 46.4% from the field but a horrific 15.6% on threes going 5-32. Barker is new to the team and did not play in last years contest against UConn.
They do have a freshman guard Elina Aamisaio, a 5'10" freshman guard. I'm not sure how many minutes she will see in this game. She is averaging 5.1 PPG and 2.3 RPG. Elina is second on the team in assists with 128. That works out to around 3.5 per game. Not a great shooter going 16-62 on threes, I don't expect her to see many minutes in this game.
Final Prediction
Well, here we go. Final Four!! And the big question is can Paige score 30+ in one more game? She did last season in the loss to UCLA. She had 31 points. But UConn was just awful in this loss shooting 33.3% from the field and that's with shooting 39% on threes. I seriously doubt we see anything like that in this game.
Lots of questions on how UConn will play Betts. They can't let her dominate the paint. Can Jana and Ice keep her in check? Probably not, certainly not 1-1. But Geno will have defensive schemes to double her from different directions. The bigger issue is slowing down Rice. I'm sure the returning UConn players remember that game well where Rice was just dominating.
I'm not overly impressed with the other players besides Betts and Rice. I'm sure they will have their moments but UConn just too talented for this Bruin squad.
Betts will have to play 35+ minutes for UCLA to have a chance. And I'm not sure doing that doesn't create diminishing returns due to fatigue.
Experience wise? From ESPN - "Except for assistant coach Shannon LeBeauf, who was an assistant on Duke's 2006 national runner-up, no Bruins player or coach has been to a Final Four. Perhaps it won't matter, but history says otherwise. Not since the 2006 Maryland Terrapins has a team won a national championship without having a coach or a player go through the experience first."
As much of a matchup problem Betts can be, UConn's offense will be a big challenge for UCLA. Multiple three point shooters, a matchup nightmare in Sarah Strong and in my mind, the no doubt best players in WCBB Paige Bueckers. I am hopeful that Azzi Fudd uses that fourth quarter outburst to shoot the lights out against the Bruins.
Bottome line?
I like UConn by 7+.
