Mar. 30—It could be argued that UCLA prevailed Sunday afternoon with its best player on the bench.
It could also be debated that UCLA secured its first trip to the NCAA women's basketball Final Four with its best player patrolling the paint, swatting shots away and altering many others.
With 6-foot-7 post Lauren Betts out with two fouls, sitting on the bench through the second quarter, LSU coach Kim Mulkey said that's where her team lost the game.
And UCLA coach Cori Close emphasized her team secured the trip to Tampa, Florida, by showing resilience after LSU trimmed a 14-point lead to five.
All of it is equally accurate. Thanks to a perimeter game that had to step up with Betts on the bench or defended aggressively by the Tigers, UCLA continued its march to a first national championship after a 72-65 victory in the Spokane Regional 1 final at the Arena.
No. 1-ranked UCLA (34-2), the top overall seed, will face the winner of the UConn (34-3)/Southern Cal (31-3) Regional 4 final Monday at the Arena.
LSU eliminated UCLA 365 days ago in the Sweet 16. While the programs definitely squared off Sunday, many new faces were involved.
There was nary a thought about redemption. UCLA expressed much respect for perennial power LSU (31-6), which was playing in its third straight Elite Eight under the Hall of Famer Mulkey.
Forced to put the Bruins on the free-throw line with under a minute remaining, UCLA made 10 of 10 foul shots to thwart the Tigers.
Betts picked up her second foul with 57 seconds left in the first quarter and she went directly to the bench. She only played 6:24 in the first two quarters.
When Betts got the ball deep in the paint she was unstoppable in the second half. Many times, though, LSU sent two to three players to her, and Betts keenly kicked the ball out to an open teammate.
Perhaps the key assist from Betts came as the Tigers collapsed and she found Gabriela Jaquez alone. Jacquez drilled a 3-pointer, extending UCLA's lead to 62-53 with 1:26 remaining.
The game was essentially over. All that was left was for the Bruins to make their free throws.
When Betts left the game late in the first quarter, LSU led 13-9. Her teammates stepped up in the second, building a 31-25 by halftime.
"Betts did not beat us," Mulkey said. "We guarded her as tough as we could guard her. We did not take advantage of Betts being off the floor and we allowed perimeter 3s and other people to step up. I will say this, as I said before. They're not all about Betts. Betts is just a safety valve down there. When they get in trouble she can score it at will."
Betts scored 11 points in the second half, finishing with 17, seven rebounds and six blocked shots. Coupled with the 31 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots she had in the win over Ole Miss on Friday, she was named the Regional 1 most valuable player.
Teammates Kiki Rice and Gabriela Jaquez joined her on the all-regional team.
Jacquez had a team-high 18 points, eight rebounds and three steals and Rice dished out eight assists. Timea Gardiner, who made 5 of 8 from 3-point range, had 15 points.
"The part of the equation, not only did Lauren go out, but we have been really struggling in second quarters," Close said. "We were talking to our team at the quarter break, we said 'here we go right here. What are we going to do different to come out and execute?' "
Close reminded her team that it had enough to weather the storm. The Bruins proved her right, and now they're headed to the Final Four.
The Bruins were asked afterward which team they'd like to play next? They chose not to comment.
Flau'Jae Johnson led LSU with a game-high 28 points. Aneesah Morrow added 15 and seven rebounds. Both ...
