WOMENS BASKETBALL
UCLA 76, Mississippi 62
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SPOKANE, Wash. - Lauren Betts was so dominant inside that she barely missed, scoring 31 points on 15-of-16 shooting to lead UCLA past Mississippi 76-62 on Friday night and sending the Bruins to the Elite Eight of the women's NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018.
The 6-foot-7 Betts added 10 rebounds and three blocks for the No. 1 overall seed.
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' second-round 84-67 victory over Richmond.
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 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 Ole Miss never threatened after that.
BIG TIME BETTS
Betts 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 has 93 blocks this season, averaging nearly three a game, and was named the Big Ten’s Defensive Player of the Year.
March 28, 2025