2026 NCAA Women's Basketball Elite Eight: How to Watch and Game Thread - #1 Seed UCLA Bruins vs. #3 Seed Duke Blue Devils
The Bruins will look to punch their ticket to the Women's Final Four in Phoenix this afternoon when they play Duke in a rematch of a November meeting.
The Bruins are now just one win away from back-to-back Women’s Final Four appearances. If UCLA can beat Duke, the Bruins will take on the winner of tomorrow’s Fort Worth 3 Regional Final between Texas and Michigan on Friday.
The good news for the Bruins is that, not only did they defeat Duke by 30 points in November, they also did it without Lauren Betts, who had been injured the day before when UCLA played Texas. The bad news is that Blue Devils are still a very good basketball team which beat the #2 seed LSU on Friday to advance to today’s game, and Duke will be riding high after winning Friday’s game on a buzzer beater by Ashlon Jackson.
Last Time Out
The Bruins never trailed against Minnesota on Friday. Charlisse Leger-Walker scored the first basket of the game for the Bruins, but Mara Braun tied it for the Gophers. Lauren Betts scored UCLA’s next two buckets to take a 6-4 lead with 7:19 left in the first quarter before both teams went scoreless over the next three minutes.
Angela Dugalić ended the drought with a layup and Kiki Rice added a pair of free throws to give the Bruins a 10-4 lead with just over four minutes to go. At the end of the first quarter, UCLA led 18-10.
The second quarter began with a three-poinnter by Minnesota’s Grace Grocholski, which cut the Bruin lead to five. For the rest of the half, the teams scored 16 points each. On three separate times during the second quarter, the Gophers were able to cut UCLA’s lead to just three points, but each time, the Bruins responded including a layup by Gianna Kneepkens as time in the half expired, giving UCLA a 34-29 lead at the break.
The Bruins began the third quarter with a 8-0 run with Lauren Betts capping it with a layup with 5:50 to go, stretching UCLA’s lead to 13, 42-29. After another Grocholski three, the Bruins went on another 7-0 run and they now led 49-32 with 3:35 left in the quarter. A 9-2 run by the Gophers cute UCLA’s lead back to ten, 51-41, with just under a minute to go. Kiki Rice added a pair of free throws in the final minute to give the Bruins a 12-point lead and UCLA led 53-41 after three.
Rice began the final quarter with a three and she added two more after Sophie Hart made the second of two free throws. That gave the Bruins a 58-42 lead, meaning Rice’s layup would prove to be the game-winner with less than nine minutes left. UCLA would score another 22 points in the time remaining to defeat the Golden Gophers, 80-56.
Rice led all scorers with 21 points while Lauren Betts added 16 more. Dugalić had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Gabriela Jaquez was the fourth Bruin in double figures with ten points. Leger-Walker just missed being in double figures in assists with eight.
After the Bruins took care of business, Duke took on #2 seed LSU. After LSU took a quick lead with the first basket of the game, the Blue Devils took over which left the Tigers playing catch-up all game. Duke outscored LSU, 24-19, in the first quarter and they increased their lead to 47-40 at the break.
LSU used the first three and a half minutes of the third quarter to erase the Blue Devils’ lead and tie the game, 52-52. LSU’s Mikaylah Williams was fouled on the shot which tied the game, and she gave LSU their first lead since the first quarter when she made the subsequent free throw. The teams battled for the remainder of the quarter and Duke ended the quarter with a two-point lead, thanks to a jumper by Taina Mair with 18 seconds to go in the third quarter.
After Williams tied the game back up with the first bucket of the fourth quarter, Duke went on an 11-0 run, their biggest of the game, and the Blue Devils led 78-67 with 7:35 left. It was also Duke’s biggest lead of the game. With 3:35 left, the Blue Devils still had a nine-point lead, 84-75.
The Tigers weren’t done yet. They went on a 10-0 run over the next 3:26 to take an 85-84 lead with just nine seconds left.
But Duke had the ball.
Mair’s three with six seconds left missed, but the Blue Devils got the rebound and called a timeout to set up their final play. LSU also called one.
With two seconds left, Jackson put up a three which went around the rim and through the net with time expired to send the Blue Devils to today’s game.
Duke Blue Devils’ Starting Five
Both teams will have a slightly different starting lineup this afternoon from when they met in November. I mentioned above how the Bruins were without Lauren Betts when they met Duke back then.
At the same time, the Blue Devils lost starting guard Jadyn Donovan in December to a season-ending lower body injury. In her place, look for head coach Kara Lawson to start redshirt sophomore Riley Nelson. Against the Bruins last time, Nelson didn’t score in 21 minutes, missing two three-pointers which were the only shots she took.
It’s been a case of addition by subtraction for Duke. Before the game against UCLA, Nelson was averaging 6.6 ppg with just one game in double figures. Since being shutout against the Bruins, she’s had 17 games in double figures with a season-high 23 points against Georgia Tech in January.
That said, she has gone cold in the NCAA tournament. She scored just four against the College of Charleston as well as LSU and scored just six against Baylor in between. Specifically, she’s been unable to make a three despite shooting 34.1% from long-range this season.
Lawson will start two more guards along with two forwards. Senior Toby Fournier scored 17 against UCLA last time and she is averaging 17.5 ppg for the year. She has a 34.0% three-point percentage but is only shooting 25% from three in the tournament. She leads the Blue Devils in both blocks with 78 and in rebounds with an average of 8.0 rpg.
The other starting forward will be junior Delaney Thomas. She scored ten against the Bruins in November and she is averaging 11.0 ppg for the season. She is second in rebounds with an average of 6.3 rpg.
In addition to Nelson, the other guards will be seniors Ashlon Jackson and Taina Mair. Jackson led the Blue Devils with 18 points against UCLA in November and she is averaging 11.5 ppg. She’s second on the team in assists with 159. While she only shoots 31.3% from beyond the arc, she’s tried almost as many threes as Mair and Nelson, combined. That means she’s made more threes than any other Blue Devil.
Mair scored just four against the Bruins last time, even though she is averaging 11.3 ppg for the season. She is the best three-point shooter among the starters with a 34.7% three-point percentage and she leads Duke in steals with 85 and in assists with 195.
Against LSU on Friday, Lawson only used a seven-player rotation. Junior forward Jordan Wood played 31 minutes but only scored four points. Meanwhile, 6’4” redshirt freshman center Arianna Roberson scored nine in 24 minutes. Wood and Roberson each scored five points against UCLA in November.
Outlook
The games are supposed to get harder as the tournament progresses, and today’s game shouldn’t be an exception, even though the Bruins had no trouble with the Blue Devils in November.
The Bruins have a decided height advantage. At 6’3”, Thomas is Duke’s tallest starter while Roberson is the tallest player on the team.
While I expect the Blue Devils to focus on trying to stop Lauren Betts because they have to, UCLA beat them by 30 without either Betts sister. Despite that, I still expect Duke to put up a bigger fight this time because there is more on the line.
Ultimately, as long as UCLA sticks to their game plan, the Bruins should prove to be too much for the Blue Devils to handle.
Watch and Listen to the Game With TMB
Tonight’s game will be broadcast on ABC and streamed on WatchESPN.com with the insufferable Beth Mowins, Debbie Antonelli and Jess Sims on the call. The good news is you can choose to listen to Dave Marcus call the game for the Bruins by listening online or you can opt for the Westwood One national feed on satellite radio. To watch or listen online, just right-click on the links so that you can open up another tab and have it going while you chat in the comments below.
This is your UCLA women’s basketball vs. Duke Blue Devils NCAA Women’s Basketball Elite Eight game thread. Here’s how to watch, listen and stream today’s game:
NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Elite Eight
Opponents: #1 Seed UCLA Women’s Basketball (34-1) vs. #3 seed Duke Blue Devils (27-8)
Series Record: Series tied, 2-2
When: 12:20 pm PT, Sunday, March 29, 2026
Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, CA
TV: ABC with Beth Mowins, Debbie Antonelli and Jess Sims
Live Stream: WatchESPN.com and the ESPN app
Radio/Audio:
Satellite Radio: Sirius Ch. 211 & XM Ch. 204 with Lance Medow & Mary Murphy
Online: uclabruins.com with Dave MarcusLive Stats: NCAA Game Center
Tournament Notes:
UCLA
Go Bruins!!!
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