For 40 minutes, it was a battle between UCLA forcing turnovers and San Diego State dominating on the boards.
But with five seconds left, the entire game came down to a single missed free throw.
UCLA women’s basketball team had held on to a two-point lead with 2:22 left in the game, and no one scored until UCLA’s sophomore guard Nirra Fields fouled SDSU’s junior guard Ahjalee Harvey.
Harvey stepped up to the line with five seconds left and sank the first of two to bring the Aztecs to within one. But her second shot went awry, and the Bruins went on to win 56-55 in San Diego on Sunday.
UCLA (4-5) was led by Fields’ 18 points, including four 3-pointers.
While the Bruins forced 23 Aztecs turnovers and only coughed up the ball 10 times, SDSU (1-6) dominated the rebounds 45-25.
UCLA fell to a quick 5-0 deficit before going on a 13-0 run and did not trail again until three minutes into the second half.
After that, the game turned into a back-and-forth affair before senior guard Thea Lemberger’s three put the Bruins up for good with 7:53 left in the game.
The Aztecs tried to make a couple of runs, but just like the missed free throw, the comeback attempt came up just short of success.
Compiled by Derrek Li, Bruin Sports reporter.