NCAA Tournament: Lauren Betts leads UCLA past Mississippi, into Elite Eight
By ANNE M. PETERSON AP Sports Writer
SPOKANE, Wash. — Lauren Betts was so dominant inside that she barely missed, scoring 31 points on 15-of-16 shooting to lead the UCLA women’s basketball team past Mississippi, 76-62, on Friday night, and into the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018.
The 6-foot-7 Betts added 10 rebounds and three blocked shots for the No. 1 overall seed, which will face LSU on Sunday for a spot in the Final Four. The third-seeded Tigers beat No. 2 seed N.C. State, 80-73, earlier Friday.
UCLA coach Cori Close called Betts a “generational player.”
“She’s not only dominant for herself, but she makes everybody on the floor better. And so you just want to put the ball in her hands as many ways and as many times as possible,” Close said.
Kiki Rice added 13 points and seven assists and was the only other player in double figures for the Bruins (32-2).
Tameiya Sadler scored 14 points for the fifth-seeded Rebels (22-10), who had reached the Elite Eight five times, but not since 2007.
Betts had a similar line – 30 points and 14 rebounds – in the Bruins’ 84-67 second-round victory over Richmond.
“We’ve worked so hard to get here and I’m just so proud of the selflessness,” Betts said. “I think that to get to this point, it doesn’t matter who’s having their best game, it’s just getting wins at the end of the day. It took a lot of grit from everybody tonight, but I’m so proud of this program.”
Betts is one of just three players to have multiple games with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in the tournament in the last 25 seasons.
Ole Miss beat Baylor on its home court to reach the Sweet 16 for the second time in the past three years. In 2023, the Rebels upset Stanford in the second round before falling to Louisville.
“When I look at the season, no one wanted us here, and no one thought we would be here. And we’re still here,” Mississippi coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin said. “We got this far, but unfortunately, we ran into a tough team tonight and did not prevail. But at the end of the day, we will continue to build.”
Betts’ layup put the Bruins ahead 19-10 in the opening quarter, but Ole Miss closed within 21-19 on KK Deans’ jumper.
Deans’ fast-break layup at the end of the first half got the Rebels within 30-29 at the break.
The Bruins opened the second half with an 8-0 run and went up 45-33 on a Londynn Jones 3-pointer.
Gabriela Jaquez was all alone on a fast-break layup that put UCLA up 63-46 in the final quarter, and Mississippi never threatened after that.
UCLA’s only two losses this season came against JuJu Watkins and USC before the Bruins got their revenge in the Big Ten Tournament title game, beating USC, 72-67.
“Honestly, I feel like ever since our loss to SC, I’ve just completely changed my mindset going forward. I think just being aggressive, no matter what, and doing whatever I need to do to help my team and just continuing to be positive regardless of what happens,” Betts said.
The Trojans will also play in Spokane, facing Kansas State on Saturday. It will be their first full game without Watkins, who tore the ACL in her right knee during the first quarter of a 96-59 second-round victory over Mississippi State.
BIG-TIME BETTS
There were not enough superlatives for Betts’ performance. She scored 16 of UCLA’s 30 first-half points, the second time this season that she’s scored more than half of the Bruins’ points in a half.
She finished the game with a plus-23 rating, the highest of any player. And the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year now has 93 blocks this season.
REMATCH
Last year, UCLA lost to LSU, 78-69, in the Sweet 16. Now the Bruins have a chance at revenge.
“We expected to be in this position and it’ll be a good opportunity for all of us who were on the team last year because LSU’s the team that knocked us out,” Rice said. “So obviously want to come out, play hard and play really well against them.”