LSU was on top of the world when it defeated UCLA 78-69 in the 2024 Sweet 16.
UCLA, however, hit rock bottom when LSU ended its season.
“We remember how that felt, and that’s not something we want to feel again,” UCLA’s Londynn Jones said.
With the last meeting between the Tigers and the Bruins being over a year ago, this season’s Elite Eight matchup brings its fair share of differences.
For LSU, the most prominent difference is not having Angel Reese in the paint. Reese scored 16 points and 11 rebounds in the win, and Aneesah Morrow added another 17 points and four rebounds.
Along with Flau’jae Johnson’s team-leading 24 points and 12 rebounds, the game was ultimately won in the paint and on the glass.
It will be somewhat different for who carries the load of that assignment, but the assignment itself is exactly the same for LSU; it has to take control of the paint, take command of the glass and fight for rebounds.
That’s because UCLA’s 6-foot-7 center, Lauren Betts, will be on the other side.
Betts gave LSU trouble last season with a 14-point, 17-rebound performance in the loss. This season, however, she’s taken her game to new heights.
“It was a really tough offseason,” Betts said. “The coaches hold us to a high standard, but I feel like it’s made us so much better.”
The junior center now averages 20.1 points per game and 9.7 rebounds per game, up from 14.9 points per game and 9.3 rebounds per game last season.
Betts was always a threat on the glass, but she’s tapped into her offensive game that much more this season, so much so that she’s scored in double figures in all but two games.
“I kind of just put it in my head, ‘you’re not going to get any calls,’ so just doing what I can to be as aggressive as possible,” Betts said. “My teammates have done a really good job finding me.”
On Friday night in the Bruins’ Sweet 16 matchup with Ole Miss, Betts was two points away from tying her season-high of 33 points. She led UCLA with 31 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.
In her 31-point performance, she missed just one shot.
“So dominant,” UCLA guard Kiki Rice said of Betts. “She’s just been so good and just so consistent over these past few games.”
When it comes to momentum, Betts is fueling UCLA with it. In the Round of 32, Betts led UCLA with 30 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and two blocks in an 84-67 win over Richmond.
Some have said Betts is playing her best basketball of the year at exactly the right time.
“I will say there’s always room for improvement,” Betts said. “I would say I’m playing good basketball, but I wouldn’t say my best.”
Regardless, Betts provides a significant height disadvantage against both Aneesah Morrow and Sa’Myah Smith. But just as Betts has given UCLA considerable momentum in the postseason, Morrow and Smith have given the same type of momentum to LSU.
Morrow secured her 32nd double-double of the season in LSU’s 80-73 win over NC State, as she scored 30 points and 19 rebounds in the win.
On the other hand, Smith added another 21 points and 11 rebounds. Just as some can say Betts is playing her peak basketball in March, the same can be said about Smith.
“She is diverse in the way she plays. She’s got the mid-range and the low block,” UCLA forward Angela Dugalic said. “Just making her shots hard and just boxing her out, I think that’s the biggest key to our scouting report.”
While Morrow and Smith are playing sound basketball in the paint alongside each other, their momentum will need to hit another gear on Sunday.
In order for LSU to win, Morrow and Smith will have to play with some of the most intensity they’ve played with this season. Why? They need to tire Betts throughout the course of the game.
Betts will score points, and she’ll likely score a lot of them. But just as it was on Friday against NC State, the final minutes will be when both teams need to bring their best.
“We’re going to bang with her, we’re going to be physical, we’re going try and get her a little out of position,” Morrow said. “Take her a little out of her comfort zone.”
LSU wearing down Betts, as Ole Miss did at times on Friday, will allow the Tigers to have the advantage in those final minutes. Not only that, but getting Betts in foul trouble will be crucial for LSU as well. Against Ole Miss, Betts had three personal fouls.
Outside of the paint, the first order of business for LSU will be for Flau’jae Johnson to have a short memory.
With less than a minute left in the game, Johnson came out of the game with an apparent injury to her eye. She was not cleared to return to the game.
“They said they won’t let her go back in the game because she’s seeing double, double vision a little bit,” Mulkey said. “They haven’t come up to me all worried or anything like that, so I anticipate she will be good to go.”
However, Mulkey said Johnson will play.
“She’s good to go. She’s ready to go,” Mulkey said. “She’ll bounce back just as All-Americans do.”
The assignment from LSU’s guards will provide its own challenges. On defense, UCLA held Ole Miss to just 32.4% shooting from the field, and just 18.2% from three.
Rice works as both UCLA’s facilitator on offense, but is also not afraid to score to get to the basket herself. She scored 13 points along with seven assists in the win over Ole Miss.
Players like Rice for the Bruins and Johnson and Williams for the Tigers will prove to be swing factors in a game that will likely be won under the basket and on the glass.
All-around, however, there is confidence on both sides. For UCLA, the confidence comes from having the opportunity to play the team that ended its season last year.
This time around, the Bruins think they have more of an advantage.
“We’re really happy LSU won. I’m excited to play against them,” Dugalic said. “They’re a great team, but I don’t think they have enough to stop us.”
For LSU, it’s knowing it’s gotten better just as UCLA has.
“We’re also better,” Williams said. “We’re just going to go in there, execute our game plan and see what happens.”
LSU will tip off with UCLA on ABC at 2 p.m. C.T. from Spokane Arena in Spokane, Washington.
