By Dallas Jones

IOWA CITY, Iowa – A top five foe from the west coast entered Carver-Hawkeye Arena Sunday afternoon, a familiar sight for Jan Jensen and the Iowa Hawkeyes. It has been exactly 21 days since Iowa’s 76-69 win over USC and since then, the Trojans handed UCLA their lone loss of the season.

The Hawkeyes failed to replicate the success they had against USC tonight as UCLA escaped with a 67-65 victory. No loss in February is a good one, but there are not many teams that can stack up with UCLA’s resume at this point and the Hawkeyes took them down to the wire. This is how it happened.

First Quarter:  Unlike the USC game, Iowa did not get off to a great start on the offensive end this Sunday afternoon.

The Hawkeyes were just 1-9 through the first six minutes of the game, when Addi O’Grady checked in and knocked down a 15 footer for the Hawkeyes second basket of the game. Lauren Betts showed why she is looked at as one of the countries best players immediately, making three of her first four shots and putting up six points before the first timeout of the game.

The Hawkeye defense did respond as they held UCLA to just 14 points on 7-17 (41.7%) shooting from the field in the first and 0-5 from three. Lucy Olsen started off the game 0-6, but made a three to end the quarter and get herself on the board.

Second Quarter: The defensive battle continued into the second quarter as the first field goal made didn’t come until a jumper from UCLA’s Londynn Jones fell at the 8:13 mark, giving the Bruins a 16-14 lead.

Iowa would continue to match UCLA’s every step throughout the first half, but were never able to take a step past them. At the 4:27 mark, there had been five separate ties, but Iowa had yet to hold the lead. UCLA on the other hand, led for 14:12 of the 20 first half minutes.

Iowa finally broke that trend at the 3:09 mark as a Taylor McCabe layup gave the Hawkeyes their first lead of the game 26-25. McCabe would carry the momentum into the very next possession, where she hit a three to give Iowa a four point lead and herself her eighth point of the game. They would stretch the lead to as much as seven, going on a 16-4 run over the final four minutes of the half.

Third Quarter: Lucy Olsen kicked off the second half with a three, extending the Hawkeye lead to ten. The Hawkeyes got the lead up to 12 before Lauren Betts and the Bruins pushed back.

Thanks to Betts, UCLA made three straight baskets and cut the lead back to just seven at 46-39 when Iowa called a timeout. At the 4:40 mark in the third, Betts was already up to 19 points on 8-11 from the field. A pair of Kiki Rice free throws at the 3:57 mark put the Bruins within striking distance as the lead dropped to five.

UCLA would continue their run and eventually get the game down to a single possession 48-46 during their 12-2 run over 4:19 in the third quarter. The biggest difference in the quarter was the foul discrepancy. UCLA was called for just two fouls in the quarter while Iowa was called for seven. As the quarter came to a close, it was two foul shots from Kiki Rice that tied the game at 50 and set us up for a cinematic final period.

Fourth Quarter: The whistle may have favored UCLA in the third, but it was Iowa who drew five fouls in the first two minutes of the final quarter, putting them in the bonus for the final eight minutes of regulation.

Iowa would not take advantage of that unfortunately, as we fast forward to the three minute mark, Iowa was just 2-4 from the line at that point. Lauren Betts continued to be an issue foe the Hawkeyes to handle, as she had 21 points and 11 rebounds with a few minutes left to play.

After a Kiki Rice three pointer and a Lucy Olsen miss, the Hawkeyes trailed by two with 1:35 on the clock. The following sequence went UCLA layup, two Syd Affolter free throws and a Kiki Rice charge. That was Rice’s fifth of the game, ending her night. The score was 64-62 favoring UCLA, as the Hawkeyes had a chance to tie or take the lead with 40 seconds left.

Hannah Stuelke attempted a layup to tie, but it fell short and Lauren Betts was fouled on the rebound. Betts split the following free throws and the Hawkeyes once again had a chance to tie as they trailed 65-62 with 28 seconds remaining. After a missed three, Hannah Stuelke pulled down a HUGE offensive rebound and kicked it out to Lucy Olsen, who was able to draw a foul on a three with 6.8 seconds remaining. She would knock all three down and tie the game at 65.

Olsen was then called for a foul after being tripped up on a UCLA screen and falling into the ball handler. Iowa would get a look with 3.8 seconds left from Addi O’Grady. She was left open at the top of the key for the game winning three, but came up short.

UCLA now moves to 26-1 on the season, tied for first in the conference with USC. Iowa now moves to 18-9 on the season and 8-7 in the Big Ten. See what both coaches and players had to say postgame here: