SPOKANE, Wash. — UCLA wasn’t going to let LSU win this game.
Not after what the Tigers did last year in the Sweet 16.
A hard-fought battle that included a broken nose, back-and-forth scoring and wrestling matches for 50-50 balls.
But in the end, UCLA showed why the Bruins have owned the No. 1 national ranking for most of the season as they held off the Tigers to win 72-65 and earn the program’s first Final Four berth at Spokane Arena on Sunday.
The Bruins had been thinking about the possibility of getting revenge on LSU since the immediate aftermath of that season-ending loss.
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It fueled their summer workouts and changed the way coach Cori Close approached the offseason and different in-game scenarios.
When the bracket unfolded and UCLA saw LSU within its region, several Bruins players said they wanted to meet the Tigers in the Elite Eight.
It was a full-team effort for the Bruins.
Lauren Betts picked up two fouls in the first quarter and sat the entire second.
She wasn’t nearly as efficient in the last two games, but it didn’t matter.
UCLA had plenty of supplementary scoring and support.
Gabriela Jaquez led the team in points (18), rebounds (eight) and steals (three) and shot 4 of 5 from deep.
Betts finished with 17 points and seven rebounds and Timea Gardiner added 15 points off the bench.
LSU star Flau’Jae Johnson scored 16 of her team-high 28 points in the fourth quarter, but it was too late.
