ALBANY, N.Y. _ It seemed fitting that in one of UConn's most unpredictable seasons in recent memory, the second-seeded Huskies had an anything-but-normal game against UCLA in the Sweet 16.
Going into the fourth quarter, UCLA led by one and had sucked the life out of the Times Union Center. And then, just as she had done in the opening minute of the game, Napheesa Collier drove to the basket to give UConn its first points of the quarter and regain the lead.
From there, it was all teamwork. A block by Olivia Nelson-Ododa and made jump shot from Crystal Dangerfield quickly followed, and suddenly UConn was opening up a 10-point lead behind an explosive fourth-quarter performance from Dangerfield. The Huskies' dominant final quarter gave them a 69-61 victory over UCLA, sending UConn to its 14th straight Elite Eight. UConn will play the winner of Louisville-Oregon on Sunday at a time to be announced.
"The game kind of speaks for itself," coach Geno Auriemma said. "I don't think there was anything that came easy from the opening tip. It was a struggle. We had to work really, really hard for everything we got. There was a tremendous amount of pressure on our guys to make plays. Every pass was contested. Every cut was contested. Every shot was difficult to come by.
"We just found a way somehow when we really needed to make some shots, when we really needed to make a play. I tell the players this all the time. Nobody's going to trick anybody at this time of the year with fancy plays. You either have big-time players or you don't . ... That's what it takes to win at this time of the year."
The Huskies were led by Collier, who recorded her 23rd double-double of the season with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Dangerfield finished with 15, while Williams ended with 14. Megan Walker finished the night with seven points and 11 rebounds, and Katie Lou Samuelson had six points. Nelson-Ododa scored two points and grabbed a rebound.
UConn started off slow, with UCLA grabbing multiple offensive rebounds in the opening minutes and quickly taking the lead.
UConn relied on Collier to do it all early, with the senior grabbing multiple steals and accounting for the first six points. The Huskies turned the ball over five times in the first quarter, but UCLA struggled shooting and couldn't turn offensive rebounds into points. UConn took advantage of the Bruins' poor shooting, with Williams and Walker getting involved to help Collier push the Huskies to a 22-15 lead by the end of the first.
After a sloppy first quarter, it seemed like UConn had found its footing to start the second. Behind Collier and Williams, the Huskies extended their lead to 31-19 by the halfway mark. UCLA stormed back in the second half of the quarter, though, going on a 7-0 run that left them down just 31-26 at halftime.
UConn's problems were worsened by the fact that Samuelson and Dangerfield didn't score in the first half, leaving it up to Collier and Williams to handle a majority of the scoring. They each accounted for 12 points in the first half, with Walker adding five and Nelson-Ododa scoring two.
With the momentum of the second-quarter run behind them, UCLA came out of halftime swinging. The Bruins hit multiple 3s to pull within one of the Huskies with just under six to go in the quarter, then took the lead with four to go. Dangerfield and Samuelson were still silent for the most part, with both scoring their first points of the game on foul shots. UCLA got out to a five-point lead, outscoring UConn 24-18, before the Huskies cut the lead back to one to end the quarter down 50-49.
"It was just that a play had to be made, and we didn't know where it was going to come from but we definitely knew it was going to happen," Dangerfield said. "That's the kind of confidence that we've grown to have with each other over the course of this season."
UConn is rarely without the lead, and they refused to go without it for very long Friday night. They surged back in the fourth quarter behind a burst of energy from Dangerfield and the constant effort of Collier and Williams. UConn went from down one to up 10, energizing the crowd in Albany and sealing the victory.
