UCLA women lose to Oklahoma in second round of NCAA tournament

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The third-seeded UCLA Bruins were eliminated from the NCAA women’s basketball tournament in the second round by sixth-seeded Oklahoma, 85-72, Monday at St. John Arena.

The Sooners (24-10) advanced to the Oklahoma City regional and UCLA (26-8) ended its second season under Coach Cori Close. Oklahoma will play second-seeded Tennessee in the third round.

Junior guard Aaryn Ellenberg led the Sooners with 27 points and senior forward Joanna McFarland scored 20. UCLA was led by junior forward Atonye Nyingifa, who scored 18.

UCLA trailed Oklahoma, 42-37, after the first half and had been behind by as many as 10 points when Ellenberg made an 18-foot shot.

Another Ellenberg basket, with 1 minute 55 seconds left in the first half, put the Sooners up, 40-30, but UCLA’s Alyssia Brewer made two free throws, point guard Thea Lemberger made a layup and then finished off the half with a three-point basket with 3.2 seconds left.

Joanna McFarland led the Sooners with 13 first-half points and Ellenberg had 12. Nyingifa had 12 points in the first half and Jasmine Dixon had 11.

The Bruins pulled into a 45-45 tie early in the second half on a Dixon basket off a rebound but Oklahoma responded with a three-pointer from Sharane Campbell and a free throw from McFarland to take a 49-45 lead with 15:31 left.

Ellenberg struck quickly, though. She made a three-pointer to give Oklahoma a 52-45 lead and another one with 12:31 to play to put the Sooners ahead, 60-50.

With 7:22 left, Oklahoma was ahead, 65-54.

UCLA defeated the then-11th-ranked Sooners, 86-80, in November at Norman, Okla.

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