Lauren Betts scored 15 of her game-high 23 points and grabbed eight of her game-high 10 rebounds in the second half to lead top seed UCLA to a furious rally in its 70-58 defeat of No. 3 seed Duke in Sunday’s Sacramento region final.
The Bruins (35-1) dug a 10-point hole late in the first half and went into intermission trailing the Blue Devils by eight points. UCLA committed 12 turnovers before halftime that Duke (27-9) converted into 16 points.
A more locked-in Bruins team came out in the second half, led by Gabriela Jaquez. She scored UCLA’s first five points coming out of the locker room to jump-start the Bruins offense.
Gianna Kneepkens delivered a five-point sequence of her own, bookending a Charlisse Leger-Walker fast-break score off a steal, as the Bruins took the lead for good late in the third quarter.
UCLA went on a 9-0 run, part of a longer, 18-6 spurt coming out of the break.
The Bruins cut their number of turnovers in half with six in the final two periods, and they effectively mixed an outside game with their attacking of the key.
UCLA scored 54 points in the paint. Angela Dugalic, who grabbed four of her six rebounds on the offensive glass, added 15 points with her play at the rim.
Dugalic also dished four assists, complementing Leger-Walker’s game-high-matching six.
Tania Mair, one of the heroes in Duke’s Sweet 16 win over LSU, doled out six assists to go with her team-high 21 points and seven rebounds. UCLA limited Mair to 3 of 10 shooting in the second half after a 5-for-6 start. The Bruins held the Blue Devils to a 7 of 30 shooting (23.3%) in the second half.
Riley Nelson added 13 points for Duke, Delaney Thomas scored 12 and Toby Fournier finished with 10. Ashlon Jackson, who knocked down the buzzer-beating 3-pointer Friday to sink LSU, went scoreless on 0-for-8 shooting from the floor.
The win sends UCLA to its second Final Four in as many years after having never advanced to the national semifinals previously in program history. The Bruins ride a 29-game winning streak, second only to reigning national champion Connecticut for longest in the sport.
–Field Level Media
