By W.G. RAMIREZ The Associated Press
LAS VEGAS — The third time proved to be the charm for the UCLA women’s basketball team.
Kiki Rice scored 22 points and fifth-seeded UCLA defeated top-seeded Stanford, 69-65, on Friday night to advance to the championship game of the Pac-12 Tournament. The Bruins (25-8) had lost a pair of frustrating games against the Cardinal (28-5) during the regular season.
Rice finished 12 for 13 from the free-throw line, including 5 for 6 down the stretch to help seal the win and send the Bruins to Sunday’s 2 p.m. PT title game against the winner of the semifinal matchup between third-seeded Colorado (23-7) and seventh-seeded Washington State (21-10).
Emily Bessoir scored 14 points, Charisma Osborne added 13 and Gina Conti 11 for UCLA, which erased a 16-point third-quarter deficit.
Cameron Brink scored 19 points and had 11 rebounds to lead the Cardinal. Haley Jones finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
It marked just the second time UCLA has defeated Stanford in 13 meetings in the Pac-12 Tournament.
The Bruins used a 20-9 run to take a one-point lead, 60-59, after Jones was called for an offensive shove at one end of the floor and Rice buried a jumper just inside the 3-point line at the other end with two minutes left.
The Cardinal (28-5) had a chance when Rice missed the back end of two free throws with 21 seconds left with the Bruins leading by two. But, UCLA’s Conti grabbed the rebound, drew a foul, made two free throws to extend the UCLA lead to four.
Stanford darted out to a 9-2 lead to open the game, but the Bruins answered quickly with a 6-2 run. After a timeout, however, the Cardinal used a 6-0 run to close things out, as UCLA failed to score over the final 5:15 of the quarter. The Bruins made just three field goals and committed five turnovers in the opening quarter.
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UCLA managed to cut the deficit to five early in the second quarter, but Stanford’s stingy defense limited the Bruins offensively for the rest of the half. As the Cardinal closed the half on a 13-5 run, the Bruins missed nine of their last 11 shots in the quarter.
UCLA shot just 8 for 30 (26.7%) in the first half, including 3 for 14 (21.4%) from behind the arc, while Stanford finished with 15 for 31 overall (48.4%) through two quarters.
BIG PICTURE
UCLA: After shooting 31.1% (14 for 45) in the first three quarters, the Bruins went 7 for 13 (53.8%) in the fourth quarter.
Stanford: The Cardinal had their seven-game Pac-12 Tournament win streak snapped. Stanford was seeking its third straight tournament title.