UCLA defeats Texas to set up national title showdown with South Carolina

UCLA center Lauren Betts reacts during the Bruins' 51-44 win over Texas in the Final Four of the NCAA women's basketball tournament on Friday night. (Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times) For the first time, the UCLA women’s basketball team is playing on the final day of the season. In a grueling defensive slugfest with fellow No.

1-seed Texas, the Bruins won 51-44 to advance to Sunday’s national championship game against South Carolina. UCLA didn’t trail after the opening basket but didn’t pull away until the fourth quarter, stymied by a season-high 23 turnovers that let Texas hang around. Lauren Betts , who finished with a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double, blocked a last layup attempt from Madison Booker with 20 seconds left to get the ball back while up three points and evaded Texas’ fourth-quarter comeback effort after the Longhorns went on a 12-2 run.

Read more: Geno Auriemma and Dawn Staley get into confrontation after South Carolina stuns UConn No team scored 40 until UCLA (36-1) finally reached the mark with 7:56 left. Both teams had season lows for points. And yet, the Bruins found somewhat of a rhythm early in the fourth quarter to open a double-digit lead and continued to hold the Longhorns (35-4) to a season-low 31% from the field.

For all the attention around the Longhorns’ defense in this tournament, it was UCLA’s that carried Friday’s semifinal as it dictated the pace by not letting the Longhorns run. The Bruins held Booker, the Longhorns’ top offensive weapon, to six points on three-for-23 shooting. Texas was the only team to knock off UCLA this season, back on Nov.