The women's NCAA tournament Final Four bracket is set.
The Elite Eight was quite a ride as teams pushed for a chance to play in Tampa, Florida. South Carolina survived another scare in the NCAA tournament with a nail-biting win against a fiery Duke team. LSU got its rematch with UCLA, but the Bruins steamrolled the Tigers en route to their first-ever Final Four appearance.
The Battle of Texas between No. 1 seed Texas and No. 2 seed TCU wasn't pretty, but the Longhorns' defense powered them through to the next round, ending the Horned Frogs' storybook journey. Also, without JuJu Watkins, USC couldn't handle Paige Bueckers, Sarah Strong and the UConn Huskies.
The Elite Eight is over. Let's look at which teams leveled up ahead of a deeper national championship run and which teams went home with pain and heartbreak.
Here are the winners and losers from the Elite Eight of the women's NCAA tournament.
Winner: UCLA without Lauren Betts vs. LSU
During UCLA's 72-67 win over the No. 3 seed LSU Tigers, star center Lauren Betts was in foul trouble early and sat the entire second quarter. Surprisingly, Betts didn't return to the court until late in the third, and by then, the Bruins were not just surviving without Betts; they were thriving. Forward Timea Gardiner had 15 points off the bench during the matchup, and guard Gabriela Jaquez added 18 points during a breakout March Madness performance. Jacquez was on fire, hitting five of seven shots from the field and four 3-point baskets, which doomed the Tigers.
Jaquez's efforts helped propel the Bruins into the Final Four. Fittingly, UCLA's Kiki Rice recently
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