<\/p>\n
UCLA guard Kiki Rice (1) drives against Texas guard Bryanna Preston, left, during the first half of a women’s NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game at the Final Four, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Phoenix.<\/p>\n
Ross D. Franklin\/AP<\/p>\n
UCLA center Lauren Betts (51) shoots against Texas during the first half of a women’s NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game at the Final Four, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Phoenix.<\/p>\n
Ross D. Franklin\/AP<\/p>\n
UCLA forward Angela Dugalic, second from left, embraces UCLA guard Lena Bilic (9) after defeating Texas in a women’s NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game at the Final Four, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Phoenix.<\/p>\n
Ross D. Franklin\/AP<\/p>\n
Texas forward Madison Booker (35) reacts after Texas lost to UCLA in a women’s NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game at the Final Four, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Phoenix.<\/p>\n
Ross D. Franklin\/AP<\/p>\n
PHOENIX (AP) \u2014 Lauren Betts hit the play button over and over, forcing herself to watch last year’s Final Four blowout loss to UConn 10 times during the offseason.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The two-time All-American made sure there wasn’t a repeat performance in this year’s Final Four, swooping in for the biggest play in a game that sends the Bruins into the NCAA national championship game for the first time.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Heeding her coaches’ persistent advice to sprint back on defense, Betts swatted fellow All-American Madison Booker with 20 seconds left, allowing UCLA to withstand a late charge by Texas for a 51-44 win in the Final Four on Friday night.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen that play happened, I really have so much confidence that every time she is in a matchup, she\u2019s going to find a way to alter, block, scare somebody from doing that,\u201d UCLA coach Cori Close said. \u201cI just think she\u2019s spectacular.\u201d<\/p>\n
Motivated by the beatdown in their first Final Four a year ago, Betts and the Bruins (36-1) dominated their way to another national semifinal with the best season in program history.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
A chance at a first national championship game appearance had to go through the only team to beat them this season.<\/p>\n
Texas was overpowering in the first meeting, but the Bruins turned the bully tables on the Longhorns (35-4), shutting down All-American Madison Booker while building a 13-point lead midway through the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
The Longhorns are one of the nation’s best defensive teams and flexed their D during a 12-2 run that cut UCLA’s lead to 47-44.<\/p>\n
Betts swatted the Texas run to halt.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
With the Longhorns on the break and Booker attacking the basket, Betts backpedaled and timed her jump just right. She blocked Booker’s shot, gathered the ball herself and Kiki Rice hit two clinching free throws, sending Close’s crew into the title game.<\/p>\n
“As soon as I saw her getting downhill I was like \u2018Alright, please block this. Don\u2019t let her score,\u2019\u201d Betts said.<\/p>\n
Betts’ big block and the Bruins grinding win earn them a spot Sunday\u2019s title game against South Carolina, the three-time national champions who ended reigning champion UConn\u2019s undefeated season and left Huskies\u2019 coach Geno Auriemma fuming.<\/p>\n
So was Booker after a brutal finish to what was otherwise a stellar season. She hit her first shot, missed the next 17 and finished with six points on 3-of-23 shooting.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
\u201cIt did surprise me when I couldn\u2019t get out of my funk because every shot I put up it felt like it was going to be money,\u201d Booker said. \u201cI wish a few more fell in, not just for me but for my teammates, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Same for Texas coach Vic Schaefer after another agonizing Final Four loss.<\/p>\n
He twice lost in the national title game at Mississippi State \u2014 once on a buzzer beater \u2014 and watched the Longhorns clank their way out of their second straight Final Four appearance.<\/p>\n
The Longhorns got off to a brutal start with six points in the first quarter, shot 38% from the floor overall and 2 for 9 from 3-point range in the third-lowest scoring in Final Four history.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
The chance at a second national title stretches to another year \u2014 40 years and counting.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe feel like, in our locker room, we let one get away,\u201d Schaefer said. “I feel like this one will haunt me as the coach probably until the day I die.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the teams’ first meeting, Texas dominated early and held on late for a 76-65 win on Nov. 26 in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
The rematch was more like a wrestling match, players hitting the floor and coaches screaming for fouls that weren’t called \u2014 just like in the first Final Four game.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
UCLA dominated the first quarter to lead by eight. Texas tightened the screws in the second, limiting the Bruins to six points \u2014 the 28th opponent they’ve held to single digits in a quarter to pull within 20-17 by halftime.<\/p>\n
Betts turned out to be a huge difference maker.<\/p>\n
The 6-foot-7 center was held to a season-low eight points the first go-round against Texas, but had some success early in the national semifinals by attacking before the double teams arrived. She continued to produce while her fellow All-American labored, finishing 7 of 10 from the floor with 11 rebounds and three blocked shots \u2014 none bigger than the late one against Booker that all but secured UCLA’s 29th straight win since the loss to Texas.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
AP March Madness bracket: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage<\/a>: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/march-madness<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UCLA guard Kiki Rice (1) drives against Texas guard Bryanna Preston, left, during the first half of a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":234609,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[90572,35046,33399,90604,23681,59373,202,87541,86083,59370,59371,196,42838,42094,49691,197,942,27,29,28,5279],"class_list":{"0":"post-234608","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-cori-close","9":"tag-kiki-rice","10":"tag-lauren-betts","11":"tag-march-madness-ucla-texas","12":"tag-package-100024-ap-online","13":"tag-package-100373-mc-complete-state-national","14":"tag-package-100502-member-choice-sports-option","15":"tag-product-30027-ap-arizona-state-news-no-weather","16":"tag-product-30031-ap-california-state-news-no-weather","17":"tag-product-30109-ap-texas-state-news-no-weather","18":"tag-product-30598-ap-national-news-report-a-wire","19":"tag-product-30599-ap-sports-news-s-wire-only","20":"tag-product-32556-ap-online-college-game-stories","21":"tag-product-32562-ap-online-other-sports-news","22":"tag-product-40774-ap-arizona-sports-only","23":"tag-product-40776-ap-california-sports-only","24":"tag-product-40815-ap-texas-sports-only","25":"tag-texas","26":"tag-texas-headlines","27":"tag-texas-news","28":"tag-vic-schaefer"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}