LSU advances to Elite Eight with gritty win over UCLA 78-69
ALBANY, N.Y. — No. 3 LSU battled all four quarters in MVP Arena on Saturday as it earned a 78-69 Sweet Sixteen win over No. 2 UCLA to survive and advance to the Elite Eight.
LSU will advance to its 10th Elite Eight in program history as it will face the winner of No. 1 Iowa and No. 5 Colorado on Monday inside MVP Arena. The winner will secure its spot at the Final Four in Cleveland next week.
Flau’Jae Johnson led all scorers with 24 points on 7-11 from the field, 2-2 from deep, and 8-10 from the foul line. The Sophomore added 12 rebounds as she was LSU’s spark of energy all day long. Johnson flew around the court on both sides of the ball and showed no signs of fatigue. It marks her second double-double of the season
Angel Reese earned her 26th double-double of the year after scoring 16 points and hauling in 11 boards. Reese went 6-7 from the foul line before fouling out late in the fourth quarter. Reese was matched up with the Bruin’s 6-7 Lauren Betts for most of the night.
The double-double duo of Johnson and Reese combined for 40 of LSU’s 78 points and 23 of the Tigers’ 38 rebounds.
Aneesah Morrow and Mikaylah Williams broke double figures scoring 17 and 12, respectively. Both players came alive in the second quarter as LSU was behind and needed points to stop the UCLA comeback.
Betts, Londynn Jones, and Gabriela Jaquez each scored 14 for the Bruins to spread the offensive effort. Betts brought down 17 total rebounds to lead all players. Jones scored 4 three-pointers to lead all players. KiKi Rice added 13 for UCLA before fouling out in the fourth quarter.
Johnson gave the Tigers their first lead of the day with back-to-back triples to put LSU up 8-7 before the first media timeout. Betts earned 5 of the Bruins points in the first 5 minutes as she battled with Reese down low. LSU found its early offense on the perimeter with Johnson’s pair of threes and a pull-up jumper from Williams. Johnson went on to score two more from the free throw line to earn her 8th straight points for the Tigers. LSU looked to hang on to its narrow lead, but the Bruins stringed together a 6-0 run to move back ahead by 1 with 1:30 to go in the quarter. Van Lith went 1-1 from the charity stripe to knot things up at 15 after the opening 10 minutes.
Reese went coast-to-coast to open the quarter as her steal led to another layup that regained the LSU lead. Jaquez hit UCLA’s first three-pointer of the day to move the bruins back in front, 18-17. The Tigers forced a Bruin timeout with just under 7 minutes to play as they went on a 6-0 run that was capped off by a spin-move finish from Johnson to move her into double figures. After opening the second quarter 1-6 from the field, Rice went 2-2 from the field to put the Bruins within two. LSU moved its lead to by as many as 10 before the end of the quarter, but a Jones three-pointer to end the quarter made it 34-27 at the half.
The Tigers went 57.1-percent from the field in the second quarter to outscore UCLA 19-12. The Bruins were just 4-14 in the second. LSU was out-rebounded in the first half 23-20 and only brought down 2 offensive boards. The lead changed 5 times and the Tigers largest lead was 10 throughout the first half.
At the media timeout, both squads had scored 10 points to start the third quarter as LSU held onto its 7 point lead. UCLA found its scoring down low and from beyond the arch, while the Tigers made its offensive effort in the mid-range. After the break, an 8-0 UCLA run regained the Bruin lead for the first time since the first minute of the second quarter. The Bruins hit three triples in just two minutes to spark its offense heading into the final minute of the quarter. A steal from Reese led to Betts’ third personal and sent Reese to the line to end the third. Reese went 2-2 to secure her double-double and tie things up at 48 heading into the final quarter.
The Bruins scored first to go up by 3 within the opening seconds of the fourth quarter. The Tigers traded buckets to stay within striking distance. A Williams steal led to a second chance finish that put LSU up by 1 with 7:48 remaining. Osborne connected on UCLA’s seventh three of the day to move them back up by 1. Williams responded again with a driving layup to make it 58-58 at the media timeout. LSU played from behind for the next three minutes staying close, but unable to regain the lead. The Tigers called for a 30-second timeout after Morrow scored to male it 67-66, UCLA. Reese went 2-2 from the foul line to gain LSU’s first lead of the quarter with just under two minutes to play. Johnson made the same a possession later to make it 70-67. LSU made its free throws down the stretch to improve its advantage and earn the win, 78-69.
