This post was updated April 3 at 11:08 p.m.

PHOENIX – A Longhorn-Bruin rematch promised excitement.

One team that managed to beat an otherwise invincible squad versus a Westwood bunch searching for its first national title in the NCAA era.

And while the Bruins avenged their sole loss of the season in what came down to a nail-biter, a promise of highlight reel-worthy moments took a backseat to surviving.

“I wanted to apologize to all the fans for the rugby match and the 23 turnovers,” said UCLA women’s basketball coach Cori Close. “But credit to them (Texas) that they played that hard to force that kind of game.”

In a game that was just 31-28 after three quarters of action, No. 1 seed UCLA women’s basketball (36-1, 18-0 Big Ten) eliminated No. 1 seed Texas (35-4, 13-3 SEC) 51-44 from the NCAA Tournament in a Final Four bout Friday night at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix. The Bruins’ victory comes just 364 days after they lost to eventual national champions UConn in last season’s national semifinal.

The semifinal battle, between two top-seeds and the nation’s Small Forward of the Year in Texas’ Madison Booker and Center of the Year in UCLA’s Lauren Betts, seemingly promised fireworks and fanfare commensurate with the talent on the hardwood.

But the only sparks that appeared were the ones emanating from the rim, which took a beating from two offenses that struggled to generate across a physical contest.

“After the Iowa game, when we won the Big Ten Championship tournament, I told our team that you cannot fall in love with pretty offense,” Close said. “I told them there’s going to be a game in the NCAA Tournament that you’re going to have to just grind it out and do it with your defense. … And this was the game we needed that.”

UCLA has been unable to find its rhythm on the perimeter across NCAA Tournament play thus far, shooting just 25% and 14% from beyond the arc in its Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight matchups, respectively. 

And in UCLA’s 12-point win over Duke to advance to the Final Four, Close’s squad failed to find its groove anywhere but in the paint, scoring 54 of its 70 total points on the inside.

However, Friday offered a glimpse of change for UCLA, with the Bruins downing 50% of their deep shots in the first quarter.

But that moment was just that – a glimpse – and that percentage slimmed to 25% by the break.

UCLA was not alone in its struggles, though.

Texas forward Booker – who has been a spark for her team across tournament play so far, scoring 40 points in the Sweet Sixteen and last failing to reach double-digit scoring Feb. 9 – was held to just six points off 3-for-23 shooting from the field.

“Gabs (senior guard Gabriela Jaquez) and all my teammates that played on her (Booker) – Angela (graduate student forward Angela Dugalić) played on her, all the scouts switched on to her – just did an incredible job pressing up, making the shots difficult,” said graduate student guard Gianna Kneepkens. “She can hit those, but we pushed her out a little bit farther and made those very difficult for her.”

Booker’s absence from the stat sheet hampered the Longhorn offense, and the Small Forward of the Year’s shooting woes echoed in Texas’ 21.4% clip from the field across the opening two frames. 

Center Kyla Oldacre, battling through a matchup with fellow center 6-foot-7 senior Lauren Betts, and guard Rori Harmon took hold of the Longhorns’ offense. 

By the end of the contest, the pair posted a combined 19 points, more than 40% of Texas’ total.

Facilitating proved to be the weakest aspect of the Bruins’ game, manifested in both overzealous and ill-decided passes that created turnovers rather than pushing the pace of the contest. 

Texas struggled to capitalize on UCLA’s 23 turnovers, as the latter’s defense efforts limited the Longhorns to just 11 second-chance points. 

Still, the decisive lead the Bruins took in the opening quarter dwindled across the second frame, and entering the break, UCLA retained just a three-point advantage. The sloppy shooting the Bruins had seemingly left behind in November’s contest reared its ugly head again Friday night. 

UCLA managed just 27.3% and 30.8% clips in the next two periods. 

With poor shooting across the board, a battle of defenses took center court instead, and the just 37 combined points the teams posted across the first half was the lowest in Final Four history. 

“Shots are going to go in, they’re not going to go in sometimes,” Kneepkens said. “So if you play with your mind like that, basketball is not so fun. So you can focus on the things you can control, like boxing out, getting rebounds, just playing aggressive.”

But the shots did eventually fall – when they were coming off the fingertips of the Big Ten Player of the Year.

Betts – who was held to just eight points in the team’s last battle – shot 4-for-5 in the second half to end the night as UCLA’s leading scorer, leaving the arena with a team-high 16 points and 11 rebounds.

For a game dominated by defense, a rare zero shooting fouls resulted in zero free throws attempted at halftime. 

Nonetheless, the whistle was blown as Longhorn forward Justice Carlton’s layup fell through the net, and after making her shot from the charity stripe, the forward’s three-point play pulled her team within three points of the Bruins.

“We do so much mental work,” Betts said. “In those moments, we’re so connected that regardless of what the score is – we could have been down 10 – we would have still been as connected as if we were up 10.” 

But senior guard Kiki Rice’s 3-pointer one minute into the fourth quarter electrified the Bruin faithful. 

Followed up by a steal from graduate student guard Charlisse Leger-Walker, who fed Jaquez in the post for a clean layup, a 10-point lead brought blue and gold-clad fans to their feet.

Texas pulled the game into a one-score game again with a minute left, but a resounding block from Betts on a layup attempt from Booker was the nail in the coffin.

“The entire game, the coaches are just continuously telling me, ‘Sprint back, sprint back, sprint back,’” Betts said. “My job today was to help in any way that I can inside of paint and protect the rim. … So as soon as I saw her getting downhill, I was just like, ‘Alright, please block this.’”

Fouling 90.3% free throw shooter Rice did not alleviate the sting of Betts’ block, and four consecutive baskets from the charity stripe led UCLA into unknown territory – an NCAA title game.