No. 1-Seed Bruins Look to Corral No. 8-Seed Cowgirls Monday

Monday, March 23

Los Angeles, Calif.

7 p.m. PT

UCLA

Oklahoma State

Photo by: Caren Nicdao

No. 1-Seed Bruins Look to Corral No. 8-Seed Cowgirls Monday

March 22, 2026 | Women's Basketball

Tournament Central UCLA Game Notes (PDF)Press Conference (March 22)UCLA WBB Quotes (March 22, 2026)

LOS ANGELES – UCLA (32-1) plays its final home game of the season on Monday, March 23, in the Second Round of the 2026 NCAA D1 Women's Basketball Championship.

The Bruins face off against Oklahoma State (24-9) at 7 p.m.; the game will be broadcast to ESPN.

UCLA looks to return to the Sweet 16 for the fourth-consecutive season with a win on Monday.

GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial
Location: Los Angeles, Calif.
Tip-off Time: 7 p.m. PT
TV: ESPN
TV Talent: Eric Frede, Christy Thomaskutty
Radio: UCLA Digital Radio; Westwood One; SiriusXM 81 and SiriusXM App
Radio Talent: Dave Marcus (UCLA)

TICKET INFORMATION
Single-game tickets and ticket packages for the 2025-26 First and Second Rounds in Los Angeles are still available. Fans can call (310) 206-5991, visit this link, or email tickets@athletics.ucla.edu for more information. For more information about tickets, call UCLA Athletic Sales & Service at (310) 206-5991 or via email at tickets@athletics.ucla.edu.

Parking and game day information can be found here.

MATCHUP HISTORY: vs. Oklahoma State Cowgirls
• The Bruins are 2-1 in the all-time series against Oklahoma State dating back to Jan. 8, 1985.
• UCLA is 2-0 against the Cowgirls inside Pauley Pavilion; the Bruins and Cowgirls met in December 2017 and 2018 in a home-and-home.
• Monday will be the first postseason meeting between the programs.

LAST TIME OUT: W, 96-43, vs. No. 16-seed California Baptist (March 21)
• UCLA claimed its largest postseason win in program history with the 53-point victory over CBU on Saturday night.
• The Bruins outscored California Baptist 52-9 in the second half. UCLA dominated the boards, winning the rebound battle 62-21. The Bruins had 21 offensive rebounds that led to 30 second chance points.
• Three Bruins recorded double-doubles in the win: Lauren Betts (22 PTS, 10 REB), Sienna Betts (10 PTS, 12 REB) and Angela Dugalić (10 PTS, 11 REB). The result is believed to be the first time siblings have recorded a double-double in the same game.
• UCLA had five scorers in double figures; Gabriela Jaquez (16 PTS) and Kiki Rice (18 PTS) joined the double-double achievers.

HISTORY MADE IN INDY
• UCLA became the 10th team in conference history to repeat as Big Ten tournament champions after capturing the 2025 and 2026 titles in consecutive seasons.
• The championship victory marks the third conference tournament title in program history, and the first back-to-back championship for UCLA WBB. The Bruins now own trophies from the 2006 Pac-10 tournament, the 2025 and 2026 Big Ten tourneys.
• Senior Kiki Rice was named Most Outstanding Player for the 2026 Allstate Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament; she averaged 16.7 points, 5.3 assists and 3.7 rebounds in UCLA's 3-0 weekend in Indianapolis. Senior Lauren Betts joined her on the all-tournament team.
• UCLA earned its second-consecutive Big Ten tournament title with a 51-point win over Iowa in the championship game. The result marked the largest margin of victory over an AP top-10 opponent by any team in NCAA history (since 1981-82).
• UCLA finished 18-0 in conference play, claiming the fourth unblemished regular season in Big Ten History (2026 UCLA, 2015 Maryland, 1999 Purdue, 1985 Ohio State).

MADE FOR MARCH: UCLA IN THE POSTSEASON
• Saturday began the Bruins' 21st appearance in the NCAA tournament.
• UCLA's only national championship came in 1978 when women's basketball was housed by the AIAW.
• The Bruins reached their first NCAA Final Four in 2025 after claiming the Spokane 1 Regional championship trophy.
• UCLA enters the NCAA postseason for the ninth time in the last 11 seasons (excluding the canceled 2020 postseason).
• The Bruins won the 2015 WNIT and made it to the tournament's semifinal round in 2022 for UCLA's only absences from the NCAA tournament since 2014.
• UCLA has hosted the first and second rounds each of the last four seasons, one of six DI schools to be a top-four seed in every campaign.

WHAT'S BRUIN
• UCLA have 12 ranked wins this season, seven of which have come in B1G play; the Bruins also had back-to-back top-12 wins (No. 11 Ohio State, No. 9 Iowa) in the Big Ten tournament.
• The Bruins have a +21.4 margin of victory in ranked wins and league-leading +28.9 margin overall (4th in NCAA, 1st in B1G).
• The Big Ten boasts seven programs in the AP Top 25's penultimate poll: No. 2 UCLA, No. 7 Iowa, No. 9 Michigan, No. 12 Ohio State, No. 17 Maryland, No. 18 Minnesota, No. 20 Michigan. Oregon and Illinois received votes.
• The 2025-26 Bruins have won a program-record setting 26-straight games since faltering against No. 4 Texas on Nov. 26.
• UCLA won 23-straight games in 2024-25 - 22 were by a double-digit margin - setting the streak for both records in program history. UCLA's previous-best win streak came in the 1977-78 championship campaign (21 games).
• Head Coach Cori Close has 353-career wins at the helm; she was the first Bruin women's head coach to reach 300 wins last year.
• The Bruins reached 30 wins for the second-consecutive season; 2026 marks the fastest they've gotten to 30 victories.
• UCLA has four players averaging double figures: L. Betts (16.5), K. Rice (15.4), G. Jaquez (13.7) and G. Kneepkens (13.2). Angela Dugalić (9.0) and Charlisse Leger-Walker (8.9) are just outside of the double-digit mark.
• The Bruin starting five totals 67.7 points per game, accounting for 79.2% of scoring for UCLA. Six UCLA players have scored 20+ points in a game this season; the Bruins have had multiple 20+ point scorers in four games so far.
• The Bruins lead the Big Ten in assist/turnover ratio (1.77 A/TO), assists (738 TOTAL, 22.4 APG), FG% (.513, 2nd NCAA), defensive FG% (.358 OPP FG%). UCLA is also first in the conference (2nd NCAA) in rebounding margin (+15.7 RPG), first in rebounds (42.9 RPG, 6th NCAA) and first in the B1G in scoring margin (+28.9, 4th NCAA). UCLA is second in the conference in 3P% (.374, 7th NCAA).
• UCLA finished the pre-tournament season second in the NET rankings with a nation-best 19 Quad 1 wins (19-1).
• Four Bruins were named to the Mid-Season Top 10 lists for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and WBCA Starting 5 awards: Kiki Rice (Lieberman), Gianna Kneepkens (Meyers Drysdale), Gabriela Jaquez (Miller) and Lauren Betts (Leslie).
• Lauren Betts was named to the Wooden Award Late Midseason Top 20 on Feb. 10, but point guard Kiki Rice (who was named to the top 25) was omitted on the updated watch list. They both made the Naismith Trophy POTY Late Season Team on Feb. 17.
• For the first time in program history (data going back to 1999-2000), UCLA had seven Bruins in double figures against Indiana on Feb. 15: K. Rice (17), L. Betts (16), G. Kneepkens (12), C. Leger-Walker (12), G. Jaquez (11), S. Betts (10), L. Bilić (10).
• The Bruins boast 7 McDonald's All Americans on the roster: Lauren Betts, Sienna Betts, Angela Dugalić, Timea Gardiner, Gabriela Jaquez, Amanda Muse, and Kiki Rice. Jaquez and Rice shared co-MVP honors in the all-star game.