This post was updated Nov. 24 at 7:47 p.m.

Two seasons ago, UCLA blew a halftime lead to Connecticut.

The Huskies were ranked No. 3 in the nation in that 2021 contest, and they turned the halftime deficit into a double-digit win over an unranked Bruin squad.

But this is a different era of women’s basketball in Westwood.

Days after earning its highest ranking in program history, coach Cori Close’s team turned a similar halftime lead over the women’s college basketball powerhouse program into a statement win.

No. 2 UCLA women’s basketball (5-0) never trailed in a 78-67 victory over No. 6 UConn (3-2) in the Cayman Islands Classic on Friday evening. After the Bruins’ 19-point first-half lead was cut to just five at the halftime break, UCLA used a 13-0 third-quarter run to avenge its 2021 loss with its first-ever victory over UConn.

“That was a different team back then,” said graduate student guard Charisma Osborne. “This game, our team just stayed together, and our coaches did a good job adjusting.”

The first half was a backcourt battle between sophomore guard Kiki Rice and guard Paige Bueckers.

In the opening 10 minutes, UCLA’s playmaker had the upper hand.

Rice scored 12 of the Bruins’ first 15 points as UCLA jumped out to a 15-8 lead in the opening seven minutes. Bueckers made a pair of jumpers, but the Bruins shot 60% from the field and hit five 3s to earn a 28-12 lead through one quarter.

After a 3-pointer from Osborne opened the second quarter and pushed the score to 31-12, the Bruins had their largest lead of the half at 19 and looked primed for a blowout win.

But then Bueckers and the Huskies finally arrived in the Cayman Islands.

Behind 13 points from Bueckers and another nine from guard/forward Aubrey Griffin, UConn went on a 22-6 run over an eight-minute span. UCLA shot just 2-of-13 from the field and 0-of-5 from beyond the arc during the stretch.

Rice said she is familiar with Bueckers’ game and enjoyed battling against the star guard.

“Paige is an incredible player,” Rice said. “It’s always fun to match up against other elite big guards. … We’ve actually worked out together a few times.”

After turning the ball over seven times during the span of the second quarter, suddenly the Bruins’ huge lead was just five at the half, and history from two years ago appeared to be repeating itself.

But UCLA defended its program-best No. 2 AP ranking with a bounce-back third quarter.

With 8:30 left in the period, UCLA went on a 22-4 run to turn its five-point halftime lead into its largest lead of the game at 23. Behind another eight points from Rice and a triad of 3-pointers from Osborne during the stretch, the Bruins ultimately outscored the Huskies 22-8 in the period.

After 18 first-half points from Bueckers, UCLA held the former Player of the Year to just four points and no made field goals in the third to enter the fourth quarter leading 61-42.

But Bueckers had one more run in her.

The 6-foot-0 guard hit a trio of 3-pointers in less than four minutes to cut the Bruins’ lead to single digits with just over two minutes to play.

But her 31 points for the game were not enough.

A pair of free throws from Rice pushed the UCLA lead back to 76-65 with less than two minutes to play, and her scoring total for the game to 24. She added 11 rebounds and eight assists, while Osborne finished with 18 points and six 3-pointers before the final buzzer sounded.

Behind the backcourt duo in Rice and Osborne, the Bruins earned their largest win against a top-10 team since 2017.

Following the win, Close said UConn’s program has been a model for her team in recent years.

“They have set the bar for women’s basketball in the last 20 years,” Close said. “They’re a lot of why we play the way we play.”

But she added that her program’s first win over the historic team marks a different time for UCLA.

“That was then, and this is now,” Close said. “This is our team, and this is where we’re going.”