It’s already been a landmark week for the WNBA, which finally reached a CBA with its players and should avoid a lockout. Next on the agenda this summer: the expansion draft, which will welcome the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo to the league, and the 2026 regular season.
Scouts for the Fire and Tempo as well as the league’s incumbent 13 franchises have their eyes on the NCAA Women’s Tournament. In particular, UCLA is under a microscope, as the Bruins have Lauren Betts and Kiki Rice, both of whom are in contention for top-five picks in the upcoming Draft.
UCLA easily dispatched California Baptist in the first round behind 22 points from Betts and 18 from Rice. Next, the Bruins will welcome No. 8 Oklahoma State, which managed an 82-68 win over a fellow orange-and-black-clad school in No. 9 Princeton. The game will tip off at 10 p.m. ET tonight.
UCLA is a 26.5-point favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook (-50000 on the Moneyline), with the point total set to 141.5. The Cowgirls are +4000 on the Moneyline. Below, I’ll break down this second-round matchup and offer a prediction.
Oklahoma State Cowgirls at UCLA Bruins (10:00 p.m. ET)
If Oklahoma State can keep it competitive, it wouldn’t be all that surprising. Despite some inconsistencies during the regular season, the Cowgirls had two wins over top-25 opponents, posting a winning record against Quad 2 teams overall. The season ended in a whimper for Oklahoma State, as it was upset by Kansas State in the Big 12 Tournament, but a win over the Tigers, who went 26-4 and won both of their Ivy Tournament games by at least 10 points, is an impressive bounce-back. Given Princeton’s superior performance against Quad 1 and 2 opponents, it was one of the Cowgirls’ more impressive results of the season.
They have an extremely well-rounded roster, which could suit them well against a strong Bruins defense. Five different players average at least 10 points per game, with senior guard Micah Gray (13.4) leading the way. Achol Akot leads the team in rebounds (7.3) and blocks (0.8), Jadyn Wooten in assists (5.3), and Stailee Heard in steals (1.8). All in all, it’s probably unreasonable to expect Oklahoma State to shoot as well as it did against the Tigers (47% from deep), but it does rank a solid 26th in three-point percentage. The Cowgirls also punch above their weight on the boards, ranking 22nd in rebounding margin.
Still, UCLA is UCLA. The Bruins played the toughest schedule in the country this season, with 20 of their 33 games coming against Quad 1 opposition, and they went 19-1 in such games. All in all, UCLA hasn’t lost since November 4, and only four times all season has it even won a game by fewer than 11 points. The Bruins ended the regular season on a statement, winning the Big 10 tournament title by more than doubling Iowa’s score, and it’s not like the Hawkeyes are a weak team; they finished 10th in NET Rankings and earned a No. 2 seed in the tournament. UCLA then out-scored the Lancers 51-9 in the second half of their first-round matchup.
The Bruins’ roster needs little introduction. Betts led the team in points (16.5), rebounds (8.7), and blocks (1.9) per game, while Charlisse Leger-Walker paced the team in assists (5.6) and steals (1.6). Rice (15.4), Gabriela Jaquez (13.7), and Gianna Kneepkens (13.2) provide plenty of supplementary scoring as well. Jaquez — the younger sister of Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. — and Kneepkens have both hit more than 40% of their threes for a team that ranked seventh in three-point percentage. UCLA also ranked second in assists per game, assist-to-turnover ratio, and rebound margin, throttling California Baptist, 61-21, on the glass.
However, because Betts patrols the middle so effectively, the Bruins have comparatively poor three-point defense, allowing opponents to convert from beyond the arc at just the 36th-lowest rate, which could work well for an Oklahoma State team that ranks 18th in three-point attempts per game. As long as the Cowboys play a disciplined basketball game and don’t give up too many turnovers, they have the shooting not to win but to keep the score respectable.
