Mar. 20—Several times throughout Monday’s game, Oklahoma appeared to be on the verge of another second round exit in the NCAA Tournament.

The first came early in the game. The Sooners turned the ball over 13 times in the first half to trail UCLA by as many as 18 points with 4:49 remaining in the first half.

Oklahoma played good defense to close out the half trailing 41-28, holding the Bruins scoreless over the final 2:45 of game time. The Sooners opened up the third quarter outscoring UCLA 20-9 over the first nine minutes to take the lead on a jumper by Ana Llanusa.

The Sooners started to struggle again in the fourth. They didn’t score for the first six minutes of the final period and trailed by 10 with just over 1:30 remaining.

Even still, the Sooners put up a fight until the end. They cut the lead to six points with 0:50 remaining when Madi Williams converted a threepoint- play.

Needing a big stop, Williams fouled UCLA’s Charisma Osborne on a 3-point shot on the ensuing possession, and the Sooners’ hopes of advancing to their Sweet 16 since 2013 were over.

The Sooners ended up falling, 82-73, to fall in the round of 32 for the second straight season.

Williams carried the Sooners offensively with 24 points on 7-14 shooting and six assists. Llanusa added 15 points on 6-11 shooting, but outside of those two scorers, the Sooners were 7-33 from the floor.

Taylor Robertson was held in check offensively with just two points on four shot attempts and no makes from behind the arc. The NCAA’s career 3-point leader entered the game having made at least one 3-pointer in 74 consecutive games dating back two seasons.

The Sooners shot 41% from the floor and were outrebounded 35-28. The Bruins were able to hold on for the win late despite dealing with foul trouble.

Gabriela Jaquez, Camryn Brown and Lina Sontag fouled out of the game and two other players finished with four fouls. Osborne led the Bruins in scoring with 36 points on 11-21 shooting and a pair of 3-pointers.

Sontag finished with four blocks and five rebounds.

The Sooners close out the season 26-7 and the Bruins advance to the Sweet 16 to face No. 1 seed South Carolina.