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Londynn Jones made a pull-up jumper.
Kiki Rice got a steal.
Janiah Barker scored a tough putback layup.
Rice hit free throws.
And then, Timea Gardiner hit the biggest three of the season for the Bruins with 44 seconds to go.
Top-ranked UCLA has proven to be one of the deepest teams in the nation, and they showed it again Sunday night, overcoming the absence of their leading scorer to defeat No. 22 Michigan State 75-69 in a March Madness-like thriller.
UCLA, South Carolina, Texas and Notre Dame would be the No. 1 seeds in the women’s NCAA Tournament if it began now, the selection committee announced.
Bruins coach Cori Close let out a big sigh at the start of her postgame news conference.
“I aged a few years in that game,” she joked. “I am really proud of the confidence, and the grit and the toughness that we earned. We’ve been talking a lot about not relying on your talent or making it look pretty, but doing whatever it takes to find a way to win.”
UCLA star center Lauren Betts did not play because of a foot injury. She wore an air cast during pregame warmups and is considered day-to-day, the team announced.
Making up for Betts’ absence required a collective effort, and Barker did her part. One of her best plays came with just over a minute left before halftime when she stole the ball from Michigan State’s Nyla Hampton and scored on an easy layup to put the Bruins ahead 41-28 with just over a minute before halftime.
“We’re a super deep team as well, and so I think we did a phenomenal job,” Gardiner said. “Janiah Barker set us up today, she played 31 minutes and got a double-double, and she played phenomenal. Obviously, we’re missing a huge piece with Lauren out, but everyone stepped up in their own way, and I think that that makes a really great team.”
Barker finished with 18 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two steals. Gardiner also had 18 points for the Bruins to go along with four rebounds. Rice’s 16 points and seven assists were also crucial.
But UCLA (24-1 overall, 12-1 Big Ten) missed Betts’ defensive presence, the Spartans scoring 40 points in the paint.
“The biggest thing that hurt us not having Lauren tonight was how we would play defensively,” Close said. “And it took us a long time to figure out how we could adjust with her not being there as a rim protector. … When I got the text that Lauren wasn’t going to be able to go, I started thinking about how they had already earned this. They beat a top-25 team in Creighton, and they did it without Lauren. They know how to do this. We got plenty to do it. It’s time for next woman up.”
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1. UCLA’s Londynn Jones tries to drive past Michigan State’s Theryn Hallock in the second half. 2. UCLA’s Londynn Jones, left, tries to strip the ball away from Michigan State’s Jaddan Simmons. 3. UCLA’s Kiki Rice (1) smiles with teammates in the final minute of the Bruins’ win Sunday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Michigan State (19-6, 9-5) was the more physical team early in the second half with an aggressive press, forcing five UCLA turnovers in the first five minutes.
Theryn Hallock and Julia Ayrault led the way for Michigan State as they erased UCLA’s eight-point halftime lead. The Spartans took their first lead late in the third quarter off a Jocelyn Tate layup and held a 55-53 lead going into the fourth.
Michigan State extended its lead with two free throws on the first possession and led for most of the fourth until Gardiner’s critical three-pointer put the Bruins ahead by two.
Rice extended the lead to four after hitting two free throws following a Michigan State team technical foul. She hit another two free throws with 13 seconds left to secure an important win for UCLA following their first loss of the season Thursday to rival USC.
“I think [the win] meant a lot to us,” Rice said. “We didn’t want to let one loss derail our season because we know the kind of team we are, but it was really great to just have so many different people step up tonight. I think it brings everyone confidence, and it really just puts us in a good mindset going into the next few games, which will be tough.”
As time expired, Barker grabbed a missed layup by Grace VanSlooten and waved to the raucous Pauley Pavilion crowd.
With March looming, Close knows the Bruins are in position to get a high NCAA tournament seed, but she wants to see more from her team over the final stretch of the regular season.
“I think we can play grittier,” Close said. “I’m proud of how we did it [tonight], but I even think there’s more in us. I think there’s more. We still let the game happen to us in too many possessions, and I just started to think about how good we are now, but if we could, every practice, fight for a few more inches, if we could fight for more consistent rebounding, if we could fight for more talk out there and more connectivity, who knows?”
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