SPOKANE, Wash. -- No. 1 seed UCLA earned their first trip to the Final Four in program history after a whole squad effort to defeat 3-seed LSU 72-65 Sunday, March 30 at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena in the fourth round of the NCAA Tournament.
UCLA junior center Lauren Betts made her mark on the game right away, blocking the first two shot attempts of the game by LSU, both layup attempts by LSU senior forward Aneesah Morrow, the NCAA leader in rebounds-per-game.
Betts had already racked up two fouls in the first quarter. She caught her second personal foul after clipping LSU center Aalyah De Rosario in the face with her elbow while the two players jostled against each other in the paint. Her foul trouble kept her on the bench in the last minute of the first and the entirety of the second quarter.
Morrow went on a personal 7-0 run to end the first quarter with the Lady Tigers ahead 13-9 after trailing for most of the first.
UCLA went 1-13 in the last seven minutes of the quarter and junior guard Gabriela Jaquez was the only Bruin other than Betts to score in the first, netting three points with a jumper with 8:13 remaining in the quarter.
With Betts relegated to the bench in the second to save her from ejection, UCLA’s offense looked to be facing an uphill battle.
The Bruin backcourt rose to the occasion, combining for seven points. Junior forwards Janiah Barker and Timea Gardiner brought some much needed assistance off the bench and combined for 15 in the second.
UCLA weaponized the perimeter without Betts in the paint and hit threes in their last three shots as part of a 12-2 run to start the second quarter and go ahead 23-17 with 6:15 remaining.
The Bruins outscored LSU, the no. 5 offense in the NCAA in the regular season, 22-12 in the second quarter to reclaim the lead going into halftime ahead 31-25, doing so all without Betts, their leading scorer.
"Shout out to my teammates for holding it down," Betts said in a televised postgame interview. "This is a team effort, this is not about any individual."
UCLA continued to stay hot and led by as much as 14 in the third quarter, but LSU wasn’t beaten yet.
James Snook - Imagn Images
UCLA Bruins forward Janiah Barker (0) runs the baseline against LSU Lady Tigers forward Aneesah Morrow (24) during the first half of a Elite 8 NCAA Tournament basketball game at Spokane Arena.
The Lady Tigers cut the Bruin lead down to just five 46-41 at the end of the quarter after a 12-3 by LSU, where UCLA went just 1-8 from the field.
Morrow was leading the Lady Tigers’ offense with 13 points and seven rebounds when she fell to the ground late in the third quarter.
She had collided with the back of her teammate’s head and went down. Morrow left the game with blood streaming from her nose, but later returned in the fourth to keep playing.
The Bruins led throughout the fourth quarter, but the Lady Tigers were always close behind. LSU had come back to make it just a one possession game, trailing UCLA 56-53 with under three-and-a half minutes remaining in the game.
Jaquez added some much needed insurance with two free throws, then followed that up with a rainbow of a three-pointer from the right side of the arc to improve UCLA to a nine point lead, 62-55 with 1:14 remaining in the game.
"I knew that's the right shot I needed to take and I have confidence in myself when shooting; I put in the work," Jaquez said in a postgame press conference. "I definitely shot in high because the close-out was there."
Jaquez’s explosive performance led the Bruins with 18 points and eight rebounds, seven of them defensive, while shooting 4-5 from three.
Jaquez’s jumper was the lone make in what was otherwise a field goal drought for the Bruins in the last minute of the game. UCLA countered said drought with a mastery of the charity stripe.
The Bruins went to the line five times in the last two minutes of the game and shot a perfect 10-10 when they got there to keep themselves ahead as the seconds wound down.
James Snook-Imagn Images
UCLA Bruins head coach Cori Close celebrates after a Elite 8 NCAA Tournament basketball game against the LSU Lady Tigers at Spokane Arena.
Their efforts paid off and UCLA went away with sweet revenge from last year’s tournament and beat LSU 72-65 to advance to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in UCLA women’s basketball history.
"I think the game was won in the poise and the choice to go back to neutral, get ourselves refocused and make the next right step," UCLA head coach Cori Close said in a postgame press conference.
Betts finished the game with 17 points, seven rebounds and six blocks, while Gardiner scored 15 points off the bench via five three-pointers in a dominant display beyond the arc for UCLA.
UCLA moves on to face the winner of USC vs. UConn in the Final Four Friday, April 7 at Amalie Arena in Tampa.