UCLA Women’s Basketball Run Through Hawai’i, Head To Second Round of NCAA Tournament

The UCLA Women’s Basketball team defeated Hawai’i 66-50 in a first round NCAA Tournament rout.

With a return to the NCAA Tournament, the UCLA Women’s Basketball team came out on fire against the University of Hawai’i in their first round match-up and are moving one step beyond.

If you were actually able to see the game (because ESPN2 swiutched their programming around and opted to show Notre Dame Vs. North Carolina A&T in the Los Angeles area instead) you saw that the up-tempo Bruins dominated Hawai’i after a slow first quarter start.

Hawai’i was playing the Bruins close and managed to stick with UCLA halfway through the first quarter tied at 10. By the end of the first, the Bruins jumped out to a 20-15 lead.

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UCLA started their offensive assault in the second half with a 21-5 run, but the women of Hawai’i closed the gap before halftime as the Bruins went into the locker room with a 37-25 lead.

UCLA had held Hawai’i to 28.6% shooting in the first half, but that was nothing compared to the defensive pressure the Bruins applied in the second half. Hawai’i could only connect on 4 of 32 field goals for 12.9% shooting.

Meanwhile, the Bruins shot 44.1% for the game connecting on 26 of 59 shots. Three Bruins scored in double-digits led by senior Nirra Fields who netted 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Kennedy Burke and Jordin Canada added in 16 and 10 points, respectively.

The Bruins now face #6 South Florida who defeated #11 Colorado State 48-45 in Game 2 at Pauley Pavilion. The round 2 game will be played Monday, March 21 at 6 p.m.