First, second-seeded Utah fell, and now, down goes first-seeded Stanford. UCLA topped the Cardinal 69-65 in the Pac-12 tournament semifinals.
The fifth-seeded Bruins pulled off the upset after a valiant final quarter outscoring Stanford 29-15; neither team reached a 20-point total in any other period.
In the fourth quarter, UCLA shot 53.8% from the field and 50% from the arc. Offensive rebounds (13) and second-chance points (13) were huge for the Bruins especially a Gina Conti offensive board off a Kiki Rice missed free throw giving UCLA another possession while holding onto a 65-63 lead with 15 seconds.
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Stanford controlled the game for most of the duration, holding the lead for over 36 minutes and taking its largest lead of 16 midway through the third quarter. UCLA snuck in to take its first lead since 2-0 late in the fourth quarter.
Cameron Brink (19 points, 11 rebounds) and Haley Jones (15 points, 11 rebounds) led the Cardinal but shot a combined 3 for 13 in the second half.
Freshman Kiki Rice had a huge game with career-high 22 points while shooting 12 of 13 from the free throw line. Emily Bessoir (14), Charisma Osborne (13) and Gina Conti (11) also recorded double figures.
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The tournament championship will be without Stanford for the first time since 2016. UCLA returns to the final round for the first time since 2021 when the Bruins fell to — none other than — the Cardinal. The Bruins will face the winner of the Colorado-Washington State semifinal on March 5.
