This post was updated March 15 at 12:19 a.m.

After a 25-9 season capped off with a pair of upset victories in the Pac-12 tournament against No. 7 seed Arizona and No. 1 seed Stanford, No. 4 seed UCLA women’s basketball (25-9, 11-7 Pac-12) will enter the NCAA Tournament off the heels of a turbulent season. Assistant Sports editors Grace Whitaker and Lauryn Wang – who spent five days in Las Vegas watching the Bruins’ tournament run – make their selections for the biggest momentum-shifting moments from the 2022-2023 season ahead of March Madness.

Battle4Atlantis Statement

The Bruins tested the waters with their No. 1 recruiting class in the nation by kicking off the season with three nonconference, non-Power 5 school matchups in Pauley Pavilion.

Veterans senior guard Charisma Osborne and redshirt sophomore forward Emily Bessoir anchored the Bruins, while freshman guard Kiki Rice posted a cumulative 17 assists across the three contests in her blue and gold debut. But the competition would swiftly stiffen, as UCLA traveled to the Bahamas to test its talent near the Atlantic waters at the Battle4Atlantis tournament.

The Bruins avenged last year’s season-ending WNIT semifinal loss to South Dakota State with a convincing victory over the Jackrabbits in the first round, then managed to upset then-No.11 Tennessee in the second. The tournament success vaulted the Bruins into the AP Top 25 for the first time since November 2021 after they claimed the Battle4Atlantis chip over Marquette in overtime. Osborne said the Bahamas trip helped solidify the Bruins’ chemistry and relationship-building early on in the season, so UCLA undoubtedly benefited immensely from the trip to the opposite coast beyond the title, ranking, and newfound consideration in the national conversation.

Leader-less Loss

The Bruins traveled to Oregon having ascended to be a top 10 team in the nation with a nearly spotless resume.

But it was during their trip that one of their greatest weaknesses was revealed. Arriving in Eugene, the Bruins touted a 12-1 start to the season, with their only loss coming at the hands of the best team in the nation and defending national champions, No. 1 South Carolina. And at that, the defeat was only by a 9-point deficit resulting from a fourth-quarter Bruin meltdown. What no one realized was that this final quarter rut would become not only a trend for the blue and gold, but its most fatal flaw.

During their first contest in Oregon, the Bruins came out with the victory, but at a cost.

Mid-way through the fourth quarter, Osborne left the game with a shoulder injury sustained in the paint against the Ducks.

And despite Rice and freshman guard Londynn Jones stepping up amid Osborne’s absence against the Beavers, the final frame of the contest once again proved too formidable for the Bruins to overcome. As they were outscored in the fourth quarter, the Bruins dropped their second loss of the season by five points to one of the worst teams in the conference.

After this performance initiated their first conference defeat, trouble lay ahead in the fourth quarter of many forthcoming contests.

Three-Game Skid Summary

Coach Cori Close said it best following the Bruins’ Feb. 3 overtime loss to then No. 22 Arizona.

“We are three possessions away from being 20-3.”

At that point, UCLA had already sustained a three-point overtime upset to then-No. 25 Colorado and a one-possession loss to then-No. 9 Utah in the grueling mountain road trip the week prior. Then the Bruins’ failure to hold on to an 11-point lead late in the fourth quarter against the Wildcats capped off the blue and gold’s longest losing streak of the year at a critical juncture in the season.

With the three losses, UCLA barely eclipsed the .500 mark in conference play and dropped from No. 8 in the nation to No. 18. The stretch prompted Close and her team to identify ways for the Bruins to sustain leads down the stretch and sharpen their mental toughness in high-pressure situations.

The drought significantly hindered their quest for a first-round bye in the Pac-12 tournament, but the Bruins proved in Vegas that they transformed the regular season upsets into learning lessons with their late-game composure and discipline in a tight overtime against Arizona State, and two days later in their 16-point comeback against top-seeded Stanford.

Deep Pac-12 Tournament Run

Following a mediocre season up to that point, the Bruins seemingly pulled off the impossible.

After narrowly fending off No. 12 seed Arizona State in overtime and completing a nearly wire-to-wire victory over No. 4 seed Arizona, No. 5 seed UCLA completed a historic, 16-point comeback against No. 1 seed Stanford – a feat they had failed to accomplish twice already during the regular season.

After Rice put up 22 points against the Cardinal to lead the Bruins’ charge, they accomplished their biggest upset of the season. The victory not only sent UCLA to the championship game but put the Bruins back into the postseason hosting rights discussion.

Where one year ago the Bruins went home in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament after a .500 conference record and were later snubbed of a March Madness bid, they were now being predicted as a No. 4 seed for the NCAA Tournament and were about to contend for the conference tournament championship crown.

And despite their nail-biting loss to No. 7 seed Washington State in the final game, the Bruins proved that they’re chronically overlooked. If the story from Vegas shows anything, you can’t count them out to make a deep tournament run too quick.

Big Dance Prediction: Sent home in the Sweet Sixteen

On the cusp of hosting rights prior to the Pac-12 tournament, the Bruins proved that their deep run in Vegas paid off.

As announced in ESPN’s NCAA Tournament Selection Show on Sunday, UCLA women’s basketball earned a No. 4 seed in the Greenville Regional 1 bracket. Close said she is close friends with No. 13 seed Sacramento State’s coach Mark Campbell, but Saturday’s matchup between the two squads will be strictly business. The Bruins will likely defeat the Hornets and await No. 5 seed Oklahoma in the second round on Monday.

For the first time in 14 years, the Sooners secured a share of the Big 12 regular season title. They additionally boast one win against a top-25 opponent early this season in Iowa State, but were the victims of a Cyclone revenge tour twice after; the latest coming as an upset in the Big-12 tournament semifinals.

Off the heels of a tournament run cut short, the Sooners will head into the Big Dance hungry, but the Bruins are more than capable of tacking on the second round victory in Pauley Pavilion.

The biggest test will emerge in the Sweet Sixteen where the Bruins will face No. 1 seed South Carolina – in South Carolina.

The Gamecocks’ fan base will undoubtedly show out in Greenville, and the blue and gold will face an uphill battle in an attempt to hand the Gamecocks their first loss in what would be 40 games. UCLA matched up against South Carolina in November of this season, where the Bruins held the lead at halftime and kept pace with the Gamecocks for the first three quarters before ultimately coming up short by nine points.

UCLA is a better team that it was four months ago, but so is South Carolina. The powerhouse – anchored by reigning AP Player of the Year and projected No. 1 draft pick Aliyah Boston – will forecast the final game of the season for the Bruins.