This post was updated March 23 at 9:34 p.m.

The duel was over before Pistol Pete could draw his weapon.

It didn’t help that he barely brought any bullets.

And couldn’t hit his mark.

There was not enough room for both programs in the Sweet Sixteen, so No. 1 seed UCLA (33-1, 18-0 Big Ten) sent No. 8 seed Oklahoma State (24-10, 12-6 Big 12) riding off into the sunset 87-68 Monday at Pauley Pavilion while punching its own ticket to Sacramento.

Though halftime seemed to resurrect the Cowgirls, their faster tempo still was not enough to overcome the drag of having one foot in the grave.

Oklahoma State limited UCLA to a 6-for-17 performance from the field in the third quarter after shooting 18-for-33 in the first half. And the Bruins’ perimeter shooting went from 6-for-10 after the first two quarters to a 1-for-5 showing in the third.

Meanwhile, the Cowgirls shot 9-for-16 in the second quarter and 9-for-17 in the third – and limited their third quarter turnovers to one after totaling nine in the first half.

But the Cowgirls’ second shot proved to be no silver bullet – the Bruins still led 64-47 after three frames.

Senior center Lauren Betts did not make her first third-quarter field goal until just 3:50 remained, but she still managed to finish the period with 11 points, making three of her five attempts.

The Cowgirls could never contain the 6-foot-7 center for long – not by lasso nor gunpowder. 

Betts’ 35 points marked a career high – coming off 78.9% shooting from the field – and tossed in nine rebounds and five assists for good measure.

The tallest Cowgirl to take the court Monday was forward Praise Egharevba at 6-foot-3, but she played just 14 minutes.’

From tipoff, Oklahoma State was just too slow on the draw.

It took 2:46 minutes before the Cowgirls got on the scoreboard in the first quarter, and it would take another 2:48 until they made their next basket from the field.

The Cowgirls’ six-point first quarter, a product of 2-for-16 shooting, ended in a 4:26 scoring drought that left them in a 15-point hole – one they could never quite dig themselves out of.

After UCLA shot 5-for-15 from deep against No. 16 seed California Baptist on Saturday, it got back to form against Oklahoma State – shooting 7-for-7.

Freshman guard Lena Bilic made both of her 3-point shots, and graduate student guard Gianna Kneepkens improved from her 1-for-5 perimeter shooting Saturday to a 3-for-6 showing Monday to tally 15 points on the night.

Achol Akot scored 28 points against No. 9 seed Princeton on Friday, and once again led the Cowgirls with 23 – but the forward just could not be on the floor come high noon.

Akot earned her third personal foul with 8:31 in the third, her fourth with 8:32 in the fourth, and fouled out with 24 seconds left before the Cowgirls took their last breath.

Oklahoma State couldn’t conquer the West.

Next, UCLA will be tasked with defending Sacramento against the Midwest’s No. 4 seed Minnesota.