UCLA women’s basketball (24-5, 13-5 Pac-12) will enter the 2024 Pac-12 tournament as the No. 3 seed – its highest seed in three years. The Bruins will travel to Las Vegas with a first-round bye and will face either No. 6 seed Utah (21-9, 11-7) or No. 11 seed Arizona State (11-19, 3-15) in the quarterfinals. Daily Bruin Sports predicts how far the Bruins will make it in the final Pac-12 tournament in history.

Lauryn Wang
Daily Bruin senior staff
Prediction: Narrowly lose to USC in semifinals

The Pac-12 tournament semifinals will serve as the setting for a rivalry showdown Friday.

In the City of Second Chances, the Bruins and Trojans will reap one more shot at victory, having split their regular-season series.

No. 2 seed USC will outlast No. 7 seed Arizona in the second round with an improved scout and refined strategy against a team that took it to double overtime at home last week. And No. 3 seed UCLA will find success against No. 6 seed Utah with a solid scheme for containing reigning the Pac-12 Player of the Year, forward Alissa Pili.

That brings us to the Friday night lights: an 8:30 p.m. tip-off where the Bruins will seek redemption for its narrowly lost second seed. But USC, having won nine of its last 10, will muster a formidable match for the also upward-heading UCLA – and emerge on top.

The two programs mirror similar lineups with a host of talented guards and an important anchor inside. But the difference lies in their depth in the paint. When USC beat UCLA at the Galen Center on Jan. 14, center Clarice Akunwafo proved a pivotal piece in the absence of forward/center Rayah Marshall. When sophomore center Lauren Betts missed four games mid-season, the Bruins had to workshop an offense that didn’t include her touches inside.

Now that Marshall is back and averaging double-digit scoring and rebounding in the last 10 games, the Trojans have sparked a rise to No. 5 in the nation – their highest ranking since 1994. They’re peaking at the perfect time, and the prowess of guard JuJu Watkins, potentially seeking only the second Pac-12 Player of the Year accolade awarded to a freshman, requires no preface.

The Trojans will escape with a single-digit win in the semifinals, but the experience will leave the Bruins hungry. Perhaps they’ll seek revenge in the Big Dance, but for now, I have a heartbreaker outcome to welcome the weekend in Sin City.

Gavin Carlson
Daily Bruin staff
Prediction: Win the Pac-12 Tournament Championship

The Bruins’ potential path to the championship game is expected to get harder in terms of opposition and added pressure.

But what would make a journey to the finals particularly interesting is the element of revenge that would be increasingly baked into each of UCLA’s matchups en route to the trophy.

The quarterfinal matchup will present the opportunity for UCLA to avenge its late fourth-quarter collapse and dreadful overtime performance in its 94-81 loss to Utah on Jan. 22. Simultaneously, the No. 6-seeded Utes will want payback after the Bruins handed them a 30-point blowout loss in Pauley Pavilion last month.

With the absence of the home-court advantage, I’ll favor the better team for most of the season – UCLA. And Utah’s shocking 15-point loss at home to Washington to close out the regular season shouldn’t make anybody want to pick the Utes either.

In the semifinals, UCLA will likely face freshman phenom and guard Watkins and No. 2-seed USC.

Just as they did against the Utes, the Bruins went 1-1 in the regular season against the Trojans. USC’s win was the more recent contest, and it handed UCLA its first loss of the entire season when Watkins went for 32 points in a sold-out Galen Center.

Thus, I believe the Bruins would have more to avenge than their rivals heading into this matchup.

UCLA has the better roster, and I trust coach Cori Close and company to be able to stop a team primarily led by one single player who will be playing in her first postseason games.

So, in comes a championship matchup against No. 1 seed Stanford.

As a whole, the Bruins will look to avenge their four consecutive regular-season losses by an average of 16.5 points per contest, capped off by an embarrassing 20-point defeat Feb. 4. Stanford, meanwhile, will enter the championship game in Las Vegas with last year’s stunning Sin City collapse to UCLA in the semifinal firmly in its memory.

There’s also a level of animosity for both Stanford and sophomore center Lauren Betts after she transferred to UCLA after the Cardinal program limited her.

With all that in the air, it’s Betts herself who will be the difference.

Stanford crushed UCLA last month largely because Betts did not play. Forward Cameron Brink and the rest of the Cardinal outscored the Bruins 52-12 in the paint and outrebounded them 43-29.

With the 6-foot-7 star back in the lineup, UCLA will beat Stanford to win its second-ever Pac-12 Tournament Championship.

Sabrina Messiha
Daily Bruin contributor
Prediction: Lose to Stanford in the finals

When I first arrived in Westwood, UCLA women’s basketball was working for success.

The Bruins kicked off this season by climbing to their highest ranking in program history at No. 2, breaking Pauley Pavilion attendance records and overcoming seven ranked teams – the most wins against ranked opponents in NCAA Division I women’s basketball.

But despite their record success, there are some challenges the Bruins cannot overcome.

UCLA will stick around in Vegas until the final round of the Pac-12 tournament, but despite its early success, the Bruins will ultimately fall to their most staunch competitor – No. 1 seed Stanford.

Sophomore center Lauren Betts will take on her former team for the first time since her transfer at the end of the 2022-2023 season. After being ranked the No. 1 recruit in her class and committing to Stanford, the 6-foot-7 big transferred to UCLA to play alongside the No. 2 recruit, sophomore guard Kiki Rice.

In the teams’ only contest this season – in which Betts was absent – the Bruins fell to the Cardinals in one of their toughest losses this season. Coupled with a heartbreaking loss to unranked and lower-seeded Washington State in the Pac-12 tournament last season, UCLA will march into Vegas hungry for the win.

After taking down No. 6 seed Utah and No. 2 seed USC in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, the Bruins will face the Cardinal in the final Pac-12 tournament conference game.

The championship matchup will begin with an early Stanford lead. However, the Bruins will put on a show in an attempt to make a third-quarter comeback, narrowing the Cardinal’s lead. But despite its efforts, Stanford’s first-half dominance will overcome UCLA, and the Cardinals will return to Palo Alto hoisting the Pac-12 trophy.