Kailyn Gilbert returns to the court, puts up 14, but Wildcats still lose to No. 9 UCLA

Arizona dug deep once again but just didn’t have enough to overcome No. 9 UCLA, dropping another close one, 66-58, in Los Angeles on Friday night.

Both team’s stars — UCLA’s Lauren Betts and Arizona’s Kailyn Gilbert — returned to action after sitting out for undisclosed reasons. And they each had an impact on the game.

The 6-7 Betts changed the inside game with four blocks and nine rebounds, while Gilbert scored 14 points (4 for 8 from the field, 5 of 6 from the line) and had two steals in 15 minutes.

Esmery Martinez led the Wildcats with 16 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Arizona was in striking distance for much of the game but just couldn’t put together a big enough run to overtake UCLA. With 5:44 left in the fourth, the Wildcats started pulling closer as Courtney Blakely hit both of her free throws and Martinez threaded the needle with a pass to Helena Pueyo, who was cutting the basket. UCLA’s lead was down to three, 52-49. But then the Bruins answered with seven straight points — capped by a 3-pointer by Londynn Jones.

The Wildcats would pull within six with 36 seconds left but that would be as close as they would get.

Not crashing the boards hurt the Wildcats as they were outrebounded 48-27 and down the stretch kept giving up second chances. UCLA ended up with 12 points off second-chance opportunities and had 18 offensive rebounds. 

However, the Wildcats did hold the Bruins well under their 81.5-point scoring average. They forced 20 turnovers and turned them into 17 points. In addition, UCLA’s Charisma Osbourne scored just eight points — well under her average of 15.7.

Kiki Rice (20) and Gabriela Jacquez (21, 15 rebounds, six assists) picked up the slack for Osbourne.

Arizona’s shooting went cold in long spurts. At times the Wildcats were getting good looks and the shots wouldn’t fall. Other times they were settling for low-percentage shots.

"I think we did some really good things but just made mistakes at really critical times (that) led to runs (and) didn't get us over the hump," Arizona coach Adia Barnes said. "We fought so hard to get within (one) possession and then just made some mistakes (at) those crucial times." 

Gilbert missed three games — Cal, Stanford and Arizona State — over the last two weeks. It is still unknown why she wasn't on the court. Earlier this week, Barnes said that if Gilbert participated in practice, she would travel to Los Angeles and play. 

Betts missed four games during those same two weeks. On Wednesday, UCLA coach Cori Close said that Betts was day-to-day and did not know if she would be available to play this weekend. 

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

She said it

"(It was UCLA assistant Tasha Brown) who really challenged the team to be willing to win ugly. (It) didn't matter if it was pretty as long as it was gritty, she said, and I think that's exactly what it was. It definitely wasn't pretty on the offensive end. Still lots of things to work on on that front. But the reality is that they found a way to make enough winning plays." — Close on the Bruins' win

Key moment

With a little more than a minute left in the game, Pueyo hit a jumper to pull within eight points, 61-53. Isis Beh tied the ball up to give UA an opportunity with 42 seconds left. Jada Williams knocked down a jumper to close the gap to 61-55. Gilbert picked a steal in the backcourt but couldn't knock down her usual money midrange jumper with 30 seconds left.

Stuffing the stat sheet

• Pueyo: 10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block
• Breya Cunningham: 2 blocks, 5 fouls
• Williams: 8 points (4 of 4 from line), 2 assists, 1 block
• Blakely: 6 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal

By the numbers

4: Four Bruins had four fouls: Betts, Jacquez, Camryn Brown and Christeen Iwuala.

13: UCLA had 13 more fast-break points than UA (21-8).

7:23: Arizona held the lead for only 7:23 of the game.