It came down the the final seconds of the game.
With the Bruins down by one with nine seconds remaining, senior guard Japreece Dean drained a 3-point jumper, giving UCLA women’s basketball (10-9, 3-4 Pac-12) the 61-59 upset over No. 16 Arizona State (13-6, 4-4).
Dean said she did not expect the game-winning shot to go in.
“I tried to drive (initially) and then they made me switch,” Dean said. “So I just figured I’d make a move and get a shot off so we had a chance at an offensive rebound.”
But no offensive rebound was needed.
The Bruins’ leading 3-point shooter did what she does best to give UCLA its second win over a top-20 ranked opponent in its last six-game stretch.
Sophomore forward Lauryn Miller said the team needed to be more fierce coming into this game.
“We knew we wanted to come out and fight,” Miller said. “They are a really aggressive and tough team. They have two players they are constantly trying to get the ball to, so we really wanted to take those looks away and make sure we get back to our defensive kind of transition game.”
Miller posted a career-high 17 points off the bench. She led the Bruin offense in scoring with 10 points in the first half alone – more than any player for both teams.
“She showed so much grit, toughness, preparation and selflessness leading up to that,” said coach Cori Close. “I was just so proud of her and happy for her.”
Miller led the Bruins in a back-and-forth battle between both teams in the beginning of the contest.
The forward’s midrange jumper with two minutes remaining in the first quarter gave UCLA a five-point lead. But the Sun Devils battled back, going 4-of-7 from beyond the arc in the second quarter as the Bruins trailed 31-26 heading into halftime.
“We just knew that we had some mental lapses and they were going to have certain players, like (Arizona State forward Courtney Ekmark), who they were going to look to get them up and unfortunately we didn’t really execute that part in the first half,” Miller said. “But we made sure to talk about it and adjust, and make sure offensively we were communicating so they wouldn’t get those easy looks.”
The Bruins outshot the Sun Devils 50 percent to 26 percent in the third quarter, outscoring them 18-13. A 3-pointer by Dean brought UCLA back from its five point-deficit, tying the game once again at 33 with 7:18 left in the quarter. The two teams headed into the final frame knotted at 44.
“We told (the Bruins) that the team that was going to rebound and talk more in the fourth quarter was going to win,” Close said. “The overall message to the team was that it was going to be about communication, because they run a lot of sets and they are good at finding people down the stretch … and it was going to be about rebounding.”
After three more lead changes, UCLA was down 59-58 with 17 seconds remaining. Dean got the ball following a Bruin timeout and sank the 3 to give UCLA the win.
“(Dean) didn’t play well offensively, but she stayed steady emotionally and on defense,” Close said. “If she had let those other things get to her, then she would not have been ready to take and make that big shot.”
The Bruins will remain on the road and face the Arizona Wildcats (13-5, 3-4) on Sunday afternoon.