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UCLA won a national title in 1978 in the pre-NCAA era of women’s basketball, but this was its first NCAA regional final victory in three tries.

But in Sunday’s Elite Eight matchup against UCLA, Mulkey will have the challenge of trying to get her team to contain UCLA 6-foot-7 center Lauren Betts, whose skill set has shades of Griner’s college days. Everything UCLA does runs through Betts.

The UCLA women look to avenge their loss to Louisiana State in the NCAA tournament last year and advance to the Final Four. The game is in progress (ABC, ESPN+).

NCAA Tournament Elite Eight matchup between the UCLA Bruins and LSU Tigers women with predictions, odds, over/under, spread, betting lines and more.

It's been almost a year since the UCLA Bruins fell to LSU in the 2024 Women's NCAA Tournament Round of 16. The Bruins held a three-point lead over the Tigers with less than two minutes to go, but the 2023 champions came roaring back to win by nine.

If at first you don’t succeed, circle back to the point guard you passed over.UCLA coach Mick Cronin has landed Donovan Dent, the transfer from New Mexico agreeing to join the Bruins several years after Cronin opted not to recruit him out of Corona Centennial High because the coach already had a commitment from another point guard.

As top overall seed UCLA and star center Lauren Betts prepared for a Sweet 16 meeting with Mississippi, the Bruins’ thoughts were also on a familiar foe. UCLA won’t get a rematch against JuJu Watkins further down the line in the NCAA Tournament because the Southern California star suffered a season-ending knee