No. 1-Seed Bruins Rematch No. 4-Seed Golden Gophers in Sweet 16 Friday

Friday, March 27

Sacramento, Calif.

4:30 p.m. PT

UCLA

Minnesota

Kiki Rice_vs. Oklahoma State (March 23, 2026)

Photo by: Ross Turteltaub

No. 1-Seed Bruins Rematch No. 4-Seed Golden Gophers in Sweet 16 Friday

March 25, 2026 | Women's Basketball

UCLA Game Notes (PDF)Get Tickets Watch (ESPN)Listen

LOS ANGELES – UCLA Women's Basketball heads to Sacramento, Calif., for the second weekend of the 2026 NCAA DI Women's Basketball Championships.

UCLA (32-1) will see conference foe Minnesota (24-8) in a Big Ten Sweet 16 matchup. The Bruins and the Golden Gophers will tip off at 4:30 p.m. PT on ESPN this Friday, March 27, in UCLA's fourth-consecutive trip to the Sweet 16.

The game will be played inside Golden 1 Center to kick off the Sacramento 2 Regional tournament.

GAME NOTES
Venue: Golden 1 Center
Location: Sacramento, Calif.
Tip-off Time: 4:30 p.m. PT
TV: ESPN
TV Talent: Beth Mowins, Debbie Antonelli, Jess Sims
Radio: UCLA Digital Radio; Westwood One; SiriusXM 211 or 204 and SiriusXM App
Radio Talent: Dave Marcus (UCLA); Lance Medow, Mary Murphy (Westwood One)

MATCHUP HISTORY: vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers
• The Bruins are 4-1 in the all-time series against Minnesota, including a 2-0 record over the Golden Gophers since joining the Big Ten.
• Senior Lauren Betts collected 18 points and 10 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the year in the Jan. 14 win over Minnesota. Kiki Rice scored 25 points (ties career-high) on 8-for-9 shooting (3-3 3FG) in a birthday showcase for the victory.
• Friday will be the second postseason meeting between the programs; UCLA fell 92-81 to Minnesota on March 21, 2004.

LAST TIME OUT: W, 87-68, vs. No. 8-seed Oklahoma State (March 23)
• UCLA jumped out to an early lead and never looked back in the 19-point win over No. 8 Oklahoma State in the Second Round.
• Senior Lauren Betts had a career-high 35 points in her final game in Pauley Pavilion, shooting 15-19 from the field (5-7 FT) in the victory. The center added nine rebounds, five assists, a steal and a block to her stat line.
• UCLA had four scorers in double figures; Gianna Kneepkens (15 PTS), Gabriela Jaquez (10 PTS) and Kiki Rice (10 PTS) joined Betts.

MADE FOR MARCH: UCLA IN THE POSTSEASON
• Saturday began the Bruins' 21st appearance in the NCAA tournament. The Bruins are 21-9 in tournament games under Head Coach Cori Close and 29-20 all-time in NCAA postseason appearances.
• 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 came 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 +28.6 margin overall (5th 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 27-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 354-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 (17.1), K. Rice (15.2), G. Jaquez (13.6) and G. Kneepkens (13.2). Angela Dugalić (8.8) and Charlisse Leger-Walker (8.8) are just outside of the double-digit mark.
• The Bruin starting five totals 67.9 points per game, accounting for 79.4% 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 (1.80 A/TO), assists (762 TOTAL, 22.4 APG), FG% (.513, 2nd NCAA), defensive FG% (.360 OPP FG%). UCLA is also first in the conference (2nd NCAA) in rebounding margin (+15.3 RPG), first in rebounds (42.7 RPG, 7th NCAA) and first in the B1G in scoring margin (+28.6, 5th NCAA). UCLA is first in the conference in 3P% (.375, 6th 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.

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).