NCAA Women's Basketball Elite Eight: How to Watch and Game Thread - #1 Seed UCLA Bruins vs. #3 Seed LSU Tigers
A win this afternoon will send the Bruins to their first Final Four.
The Bruins are just one win away from their first Women’s Final Four appearance. If UCLA can beat LSU, the team that knocked them out of the tournament last season, the Bruins will take on the winner of tomorrow’s Spokane 4 Regional Final between Southern Cal and UConn on Friday.
The good news for the Bruins is that LSU is the lowest remaining seed in the tournament. The bad news is that Tigers are still a very good basketball team which beat the #2 seed North Carolina State on Friday to advance to today’s game. In fact, the Tigers are the lowest seeded team in the tournament to advance to a Regional Final as the #2 seeds advanced in the other three regions.
Last Time Out
On Friday, the Bruins came out with a strong first quarter as UCLA took a 19-12, but the Bruins struggled in the second quarter for the second straight game. UCLA was outscored 17-11 in the second quarter, and as a result, the Bruins found themselves with just a one-point 30-29 lead at the break.
UCLA came out on fire again in the third quarter, outscoring the Rebels 25-15 to open an 11-point lead after three. The Bruins eventually won by 14, 76-62.
Lauren Betts led the team with 31 points and 10 rebounds. Kiki Rice added 13 points while leading the team in assists with seven. Londynn Jones just missed double figures with nine points before fouling out with 10 seconds left.
Earlier in the day, after jumping out to a 23-15 at the end of the first quarter, LSU struggled in the second quarter and fell behind 40-36 at the half. But the Tigers came roaring back in the third outscoring the Wolfpack 21-13 and retaking the lead at the end of three, 57-53, before winning, 80-73.
Only five players scored points for LSU. The Tigers were led by senior forward Aneesah Morrow, who put up 30 and grabbed 19 rebounds. Sa'Myah Smith also had a double-double with 21 points and 11 boards. Mikaylah Williams was the third Tiger in double figures with 19 points. She led LSU with six assists. Kailyn Gilbert scored seven points while junior guard Flau'Jae Johnson added three.
LSU Tigers’ Starting Five
LSU head coach Kim Mulkey will likely start a lineup with three guards and two forwards, though I’m not sure that the probable lineup will be the starting lineup we actually see take the floor for the opening tip, nor am I sure that the starting lineup will be the lineup Mulkey keeps on the floor for the majority of the game. I’ll go into this in a bit.
Four of the five LSU starters seem very likely to be the players taking the floor to begin this game. Let’s start with the forwards.
Aneesah Morrow averages 18.8 ppg and 13.7 rpg to lead the Tigers in both categories. As I mentioned above, she put up even bigger numbers on Friday against NC State.
Smith, a redshirt sophomore, had a big game on Friday and significantly exceeded her average of 6.6 ppg and 6.3 rpg. She leads the team in blocks with 50 this season.
But Smith’s gains came at the expense of Johnson, who scored just three points was well off her mark of 18.3 ppg. Johnson is one of LSU’s three-point threats. She’s second among the starters in three-point percentage with 37.7% and she has taken the second most three-point attempts.
Sophomore guard Mikaylah Williams has averaged 17.5 ppg and leads the team in assists with 122. She’s the only player better than Johnson when it comes to long-range shots. She has a 39.3% three-point percentage and her 163 three-point attempts means that she’s tried the most threes on the team.
If Mulkey starts the same lineup as Friday, the fifth starter will be senior Last-Tear Poa. Poa has averaged just 1.9 ppg, but she gives the Tigers five more inches of height than Shayeann Day-Wilson who is listed at 5’6” tall. Both of these ladies tend to dish the ball quite a bit. Poa has 56 assists despite limited playing time all season while Day-Wilson is second on the team in the category with 107.
Junior Kailyn Gilbert, who averages 9.3 ppg, and sophomore Mjracle (pronounced like “miracle”) Sheppard, who averages 4.1 ppg, should both see significant time off the bench.
Analysis
Looking at the box score from Friday, what stood out is the fact that Poa played just five minutes despite starting the game. Her limited time might be attributable to the fact that she picked up two fouls in that span, but it doesn’t completely explain it.
Instead, Mulkey opted to play Day-Wilson for nearly 35 minutes. So, don’t be surprised to see her get the bulk of the playing time again today. In fact, Day-Wilson has averaged twice as much time over the season than Poa.
That may not be the only trick up Mulkey’s sleeve.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Tigers switch out one of the guards for a third forward in an attempt to neutralize Lauren Betts. If that happens look for 6’5” tall junior Jersey Wolfenbarger to see significant playing time.
On Friday, Wolfenbarger played a whopping 47 seconds, all in the first quarter. It might not have been a deliberate move to rest her, but the fact is that she has averaged 13.4 minutes per game for the season and she played less than a minute on Friday.
Sophomore center Aaliyah Del Rosario is another option that Mulkey has to try to stop Betts, given that she’s 6’6, but Del Rosario has averaged just 6.5 minutes per game and height alone won’t stop Betts.
This game may be UCLA’s toughest tournament game yet, but I expect another strong second half from the Bruins to avenge last year’s loss to the Tigers.
Listen to the Game With TMB
Today’s game will be broadcast on ABC with Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo, and Holly Rowe on the call. Of course, you can choose to listen to Dave Marcus call the game for the Bruins by listening online. To do that, just right-click on the link below so that you can open up another tab and have it going while you chat in the comments below. Listen to today’s game online.
This is your UCLA women’s basketball vs. LSU Tigers NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament game thread. Here’s how to watch, listen and stream today’s game:
NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Sweet 16
Opponents: #1 Seed UCLA Women’s Basketball (33-2) vs. #3 seed LSU Tigers (30-4)
Series Record: LSU leads, 5-2
When: 12:00 Noon PT, Sunday, March 30, 2025
Where: Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, Spokane, WA
TV: ABC with Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo and Holly Rowe
Live Stream: WatchESPN.com and the ESPN app
Online Audio: uclabruins.com with Dave Marcus
Live Stats: NCAA Game Center
Tournament Notes:
UCLA
Go Bruins!!!
Thanks again for supporting The Mighty Bruin. Your paid subscriptions make this site possible. Questions, comments, story ideas, angry missives and more can be sent to @TheMightyBruin on Twitter.
FINAL FOUR BOUND! GO BRUINS!
GABS FOR THREEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!