Mar. 29—It sounds cliche, but it's going to take extraordinary effort to contain a generational player Sunday.
And it doesn't just apply to 6-foot-7 UCLA post Lauren Betts. The Bruins will have their hands full with an undersized post, LSU's Aneesah Morrow, who plays taller than her 6-1 athletic frame.
Both players had monumental performances in Sweet 16 victories Friday — Betts scoring 31 points on 15-of-16 shooting from the field and adding 10 rebounds in UCLA's 76-62 win over Ole Miss, and Morrow stunning North Carolina State with 30 points and 19 rebounds in an 80-73 decision.
The task for 10th-ranked LSU (31-5) is daunting, to say the least, against the NCAA Tournament's top overall seed and No. 1-ranked UCLA (33-2). Tipoff in the Spokane 1 Region Elite Eight showdown at the Arena is noon.
The Tigers must find a way to make another Bruin beat them.
Whatever LSU's plan of attack to corral Betts, it's a good bet the Tigers will send many to keep the nation's best center from finding comfort inside.
Morrow and Betts have both team's attention.
"Both of them are dominant in their own way," UCLA coach Cori Close said. "It's not like Morrow sneaks up on anybody that she's a good rebounder. Her relentless effort — I'm not sure I've seen anybody with that kind of relentless offensive rebounding effort ... it's so impressive. The way she asserts her dominance is on the offensive glass and really being crafty around the rim or attacking from the high post off the dribble. That's going to be our challenge is to try and mitigate that."
LSU's challenge is making sure Betts doesn't become a stationary fixture deep in the post.
"Lauren's not going to be attacking off the bounce," Close said. "We've got to get her deeper scoring touches. They're going to try and push her out, they're going to try to make her put the ball on the floor in order to get closer to the basket. That allows them to bring a double team. We call it no-move-needed. We need deeper seals so she can just turn and go score."
The teams no doubt are familiar. LSU sent UCLA home in a Sweet 16 matchup last year.
"The reality is LSU knows how to win and they have proven it year after year," Close said. "So it's going to take a great effort by us."
Mulkey knows Betts presents a difficult matchup for her smaller team.
"She is so talented, just watching her from high school until today," Mulkey said. "It's amazing how good she is. Certainly her height is an advantage, and we're not going to grow that tall overnight. But we have to battle and do the best we can, but she's not all they have. Certainly everything they do goes through her — as it should. But they're talented in a lot of positions."
Mulkey said her team has to remember UCLA has more weapons than just Betts.
"If you focus too much on Betts, she'll pick you apart and find her open teammates," Mulkey said.
Mulkey, a Hall of Fame coach, was asked about how Betts compares to the many post players she's seen and coached through the years.
"Number one, her height is an advantage," Mulkey said. "But it's also her skill level. She's learning how to really post you deep, and that just comes with experience and age and just probably them working with her every day. She has improved so much. Every time I watch her play she does something really, really good ... she's a special talent."
Morrow will find herself in the middle of whatever LSU does to combat Betts. And vice versa.
"Lauren is a great post player, being able to be as active as she is and being a big post ...
