Go Joe Bruin
Fansided

UCLA Basketball: The women’s team is one of the hottest in the nation

By Mike Regalado

LOUISVILLE, KY - MARCH 21: A general view of the court ahead of the game between the UCLA Bruins and UAB Blazers in the third round of the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at KFC YUM! Center on March 21, 2015 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KY - MARCH 21: A general view of the court ahead of the game between the UCLA Bruins and UAB Blazers in the third round of the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at KFC YUM! Center on March 21, 2015 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The UCLA basketball women’s team has become one of the hottest in the nation and right at the perfect time as the postseason is only a few weeks away.

Depsite the fact that the UCLA basketball women’s team lost at #12 Oregon State on Sunday, this Bruins’ team remains one of the hottest in the country.

RELATED: UCLA Women’s Basketball’s Win Over Oregon is a Turning Point

Let us work backward to examine exactly why this is. On Sunday afternoon, the Bruins were neck and neck with the Beavers on their home court. Even when OSU would go on a run, the Bruins would stay right with them, never falling back in this game. You can infer from the 9 ties and 13 lead changes that this game was close all the way down to the wire as UCLA eventually lost, 75-72.

More from Go Joe Bruin

UCLA, which was not expected to compete for the Pac-12, has been able to compete with the top teams in the conference. If the Bruins were to have beaten the Beavers, no one would have been surprised, especially after what happened two days earlier.

On Friday night, the Bruins pulled off the biggest win of the season as they took down #2 Oregon, but it is how they did it which turned heads. After a very slow start which resulted in the Bruins falling into a 22-point deficit, UCLA came from behind, limited the Ducks on defense in the second half, and took down the second-ranked team in the nation on their home court.

That win was a shock, but many could see the possibility of it happening. In the non-conference, UCLA went a disappointing 7-5. Since then, when Pac-12 play commenced, the Bruins have gone 10-6. Four of those wins came against ranked conference opponents. On the road, UCLA has gone 7-2.

This resurgence in conference play has improved UCLA’s resume for the NCAA Tournament. Currently, they are 31st in the NCAA RPI rankings behind Stanford, Oregon, Oregon State, and Arizona State.

At this point, the Bruins have sole possession of 4th place in the Pac-12 and if they hang onto that spot (with two games remaining), they get the first-round bye in the Pac-12 Tournament which begins a week from Thursday.

Right now, the Bruins are playing their best basketball of the season which is going to help them heading into the postseason and with UCLA proving they can take down top teams away from Pauley is only going to be a major advantage for the Bruins when the madness hits.