SPOKANE, Wash. — Emotions are strong headed into LSU’s matchup with UCLA.
On UCLA’s side, the common mood in the locker room is one of confidence, confidence that stems from how much it’s gotten better since it last saw LSU, when the Tigers ended the Bruins’ season in last year’s Sweet 16.
“They’re a great team, but I don’t just don’t think that they have enough to stop us,” UCLA forward Angela Dugalić said.
In the LSU locker room, the Tigers are playing with a bit of a chip on their shoulder. Things weren’t exactly pretty going into LSU’s matchup with UCLA last season.
Ahead of the game, Los Angeles Times columnist Ben Bolch put out a column dividing the two teams. He made LSU out to be the matchup’s villain, referring to them as “dirty debutantes.” On the other hand, he made UCLA out to be America’s team, calling them “America’s Sweethearts.”
UCLA head coach Cori Close retweeted the article, later claiming she’d only read the headline and didn’t stand by the contents of the piece.
Even though the article was released – and subsequently apologized for, a year ago – it’s managed to make its way back to the surface this time around.
And LSU is choosing to use it as motivation.
“We took that personal,” Johnson said. “The core of us who the article was about, we’re still here.”
An aspect of revenge can be found in both locker rooms ahead of Sunday’s matchup. What the revenge stems from, however, is different.
For UCLA, it comes from LSU ending its season last year.
“How upset we were after, I don’t think we ever want to feel like that again,” UCLA center Lauren Betts said.
Now that the Bruins are set to meet the Tigers once again, the opportunity for UCLA to end LSU’s season is on the table.
“I’m happy LSU won. I’m excited to play against them,” Dugalić said. “It’ll be a good rematch.”
For LSU, the revenge may not even be revenge in a game sense, but revenge for disrespect.
Mainly, though, it’s an opportunity to take down the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and punch its ticket to the Final Four. Combine that with off-the-court happenings in the past, the chip on LSU’s shoulder will certainly be there.
“They are the overall No. 1 seed, so we recognize what we have,” Kim Mulkey said. “We’ll play hard and we’ll do the best we can.”
While they may look different, emotions for both teams are certainly on display.
Now, what emotions will each team be feeling after the game? Only time will tell, but maybe those feelings of revenge will play a key role in deciding.
