ALBANY, N.Y. – LSU kept its dream of back-to-back national championships alive, defeating UCLA 78-69 on Saturday to advance to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.
The Tigers survived a frantic final few minutes that saw UCLA take a 67-64 lead, only to be held to just two made free throws the rest of the way as LSU stars Angel Reese, playing with four fouls before fouling out with 31.5 seconds left, and Flau’Jae Johnson took control.
Johnson scored 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Tigers (31-5), the No. 3 seed in the Albany 2 Region. Reese added 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Aneesah Morrow scored 17.
It was Morrow’s jumper with 2:27 left that launched a 6-0 run that put LSU up 70-67 – a lead the Tigers never relinquished. The score was tied eight times and featured 13 lead changes.
The Bruins (27-7), the No. 2 seed, were attempting to reach their third-ever Elite Eight, having done so in 1999 and 2018.
UCLA was led in scoring by 14 points from Lauren Betts, who added 17 rebounds, Londynn Jones and Gabriela Jaquez.
Kiki Rice had 13 for the Bruins.
LSU coach Kim Mulkey will look for a better performance from her team in Monday’s region final when it faces the winner of Saturday’s later contest between No. 1 seed Iowa and No. 5 Colorado.
LSU and UCLA were tied at 15 after the first period, and LSU outscored UCLA 19-12 in the second quarter to take a 34-27 lead at a half marred by off-the-mark shooting and sloppy play.
LSU had two 8-0 runs in the second period and held UCLA without a field goal for more than five minutes but couldn’t deliver a knockout blow.
As a result, UCLA came out of halftime with hopes of getting back into a game, despite shooting just 30.6 percent in the first half and turning the ball over 10 times.
LSU shot 43.3 percent for the half, below its season average of 46.5 points, and had seven turnovers.
–Jami Farkas, Field Level Media