INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Kiki Rice scored 17 points to lead five UCLA players in double figures and the Bruins beat No. 11 Ohio State 72-62 on Saturday in the Big Ten tournament semifinals to extend a school-record 24th straight win.
Lauren Betts, the league’s player of the year, and Angela Dugalic led the way with 14 points each for the Bruins (30-1). Gianna Kneepkens scored 13 points and Gabriela Jaquez scored 10 points.
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Chance Gray scored 23 points on 6-for-11 shooting and 7-for-7 free throws to lead the fifth-seeded Buckeyes (26-7). Jaloni Cambridge added 12 points and Elsa Lemmila added 10 points for the Buckeyes.
UCLA shot 44% from the field, while Ohio State shot 37% from the field. Each team had 34 rebounds. Bates led UCLA with nine rebounds.
Ohio State trailed 21-32 at halftime and trailed by seven points, 45-38, with 4:15 left in the third quarter. After three quarters, UCLA led 52-40.
With 1 minute and 24 seconds left in the game, Cambridge made two free throws and the Buckeyes once again narrowed the gap to 7 points at 69-62.
The Bruins shot 44% in the first half, while the Buckeyes were limited to 28% and led 32-21 at halftime. UCLA’s only blemish was going 1-for-9 from 3-point range in the first half. The Bruins made 5 of 10 three-pointers in the second half.
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The Bruins led 14-3 before the Buckeyes scored the final seven points of the first quarter to close the gap to 14-10.
Next
Ohio State: Will await NCAA Tournament selection and seeding.
UCLA: The Bruins will face the winner of No. 8 Michigan or No. 9 Iowa in Sunday’s championship game.
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