Dugalić scored 12 of her season-high-tying 17 points during the second half to push No. 3 seed UCLA into the semifinals of the Pac-12 tournament at MGM Grand Garden Arena. The victory, paired with No. 2 USC’s over Arizona, set up the final installment of this season’s Bruins-Trojans crosstown rivalry trilogy in Friday’s semifinal at 7:30 p.m. PST.
Sophomore Kiki Rice added 13 points with nine rebounds while fifth-year guard Charisma Osborne had 16 points, shaking off a third-quarter knee injury that sidelined her about two minutes of game time after she collided with Utah’s Inês Vieira midway through the third quarter.
Osborne had carried the Bruins through the first half with 12 points. She was UCLA’s only double-digit scorer with the Bruins clinging to a five-point lead at the break and left the game with the Bruins up by six against the explosive Utes, who lead the conference in three-point shooting at 36.8%.
Dugalić immediately quelled the threat of a comeback by shoveling a pass to Londynn Jones for a three that put the Bruins up by nine. When Utah (22-10) cut the lead to five on the opening possession of the fourth quarter, Dugalić answered with a midrange baseline jumper that pushed it back to seven. She hit a dagger three-pointer to put the Bruins up by 13 with 6:59 to go off a missed shot by Osborne and Lauren Betts’ offensive rebound.
Betts finished with eight points and seven rebounds.
