{"id":235072,"date":"2026-04-04T15:46:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T15:46:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/235072\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T15:46:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T15:46:16","slug":"final-four-2026-lauren-betts-ucla-shut-down-texas-in-ugly-game-to-reach-national-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/235072\/","title":{"rendered":"Final Four 2026: Lauren Betts, UCLA shut down Texas in ‘ugly’ game to reach national championship"},"content":{"rendered":"

The second game of the night in Friday\u2019s women\u2019s Final Four<\/a> was the exact opposite of an offensive shootout. In fact, it was admittedly ugly at times.<\/p>\n

But Lauren Betts and the Bruins got the job done. For them, that\u2019s all that matters.<\/p>\n

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UCLA absolutely shut down Texas and Longhorns star Madison Booker offensively on Friday to pick up a 51-44 win<\/a> in their national semifinal game at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix. That sent the Bruins to the NCAA national championship game for the first time in program history.<\/p>\n

UCLA will take on South Carolina in the title game on Sunday afternoon (3:30 ET, ABC). The Gamecocks pulled away from No. 1 overall seed UConn<\/a> in their Final Four game earlier on Friday, and head coach Geno Auriemma had to actually be separated from South Carolina coach Dawn Staley<\/a> after a heated incident in the final moments. It marks the fourth time in the past five seasons that the Gamecocks have been to the championship game.<\/p>\n

UCLA shuts down Madison Booker, Texas<\/p>\n

UCLA held on to a three-point lead at the break after what was a very low-scoring first half. The Bruins opened the game on a 14-6 burst in the first quarter, while holding the Longhorns to just three made field goals in the opening period. Texas was held scoreless for more than four minutes during that stretch, too.<\/p>\n

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But Texas rallied back and held UCLA to just six points in the second quarter to get within a possession. Betts played a massive part in the Bruins\u2019 defensive stand, holding Texas to 1-of-8 from the field when she was contesting their shots, and Booker went 0-of-5 against her. It was the lowest-scoring half by each team all season.<\/p>\n

Booker\u2019s rough shooting night continued into the second half. She actually missed a career-high 17 field goals in a row before she finally made one as Betts and UCLA extended their lead. The two collided early in the third quarter, however, and Betts\u2019 head slammed back onto the court hard. Betts was down for a few moments, but got up on her own and remained in the game as normal.<\/p>\n

But it was Justice Carlton who kept the Longhorns in it. She scored seven straight points for Texas to get them back within a possession. But even UCLA coach Cori Close knew how bad of a contest it had been up until that point.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel bad for the fans,\u201d she said on ESPN. \u201c31-28? I mean, it\u2019s an ugly basketball game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether it was Close\u2019s words or not, the Bruins finally separated from Texas out of the final break. They started the fourth quarter on a 7-0 burst over a 90-second span, which included a 3-pointer from Kiki Rice and a Gabriela Jaquez fastbreak layup, to take a double digit lead once again.<\/p>\n

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The Longhorns did make one final push, but it came too late. After a 7-0 run that cut the score to a single possession inside the final minute, Betts stuffed Booker at the rim to seal their seven-point win and set up their matchup with the Gamecocks. The 95 combined points made it the third-lowest scoring Final Four game in history.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was more rugby than it was basketball,\u201d Close said on ESPN after the game. \u201cI wanted to apologize to all the fans that we couldn\u2019t give them a cleaner game, with 23 turnovers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kyla Oldacre was the only Texas player to hit double figures with her 11 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Booker finished with just six points while shooting 3-of-23 from the field.<\/p>\n

Betts led UCLA with 16 points and 11 rebounds after she went 7-of-10 from the field in the win. Rice added 11 points, and both Gianna Kneepkens and Jaquez finished with 10 points each. UCLA went just 4-of-13 from behind the arc and committed 23 turnovers.<\/p>\n

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While it certainly wasn\u2019t the best basketball, Close and the Bruins are moving on and now just a win away from the program\u2019s first NCAA national championship.<\/p>\n

Live coverage is over27 updates<\/p>\n

Fri, April 3, 2026 at 6:35 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Fri, April 3, 2026 at 8:54 PM PDT<\/p>\n

UCLA is headed to its first NCAA championship! Lauren Betts finished with a game-high 16 points and 11 rebounds.<\/p>\n

Fri, April 3, 2026 at 8:52 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Texas turns it over and has to foul, giving UCLA more free throws. Rori Harmon comes out and has an emotional chat with coach Vic Schaefer.<\/p>\n

Fri, April 3, 2026 at 8:44 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Madison Booker takes it down the floor, and she is stuffed by Lauren Betts.<\/p>\n

Fri, April 3, 2026 at 8:42 PM PDT<\/p>\n

A Jordan Lee layup with less than a minute to go has Texas fully in this one. The Longhorns are on a 12-2 run.<\/p>\n

Fri, April 3, 2026 at 8:41 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Now Kyla Oldacre gets one over on Betts, and Texas is down by five<\/p>\n

Fri, April 3, 2026 at 8:39 PM PDT<\/p>\n

She rises up over Kyle Oldacre to score her 16th point of the game.<\/p>\n

Fri, April 3, 2026 at 8:35 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Texas shrinks its deficit to eight as Lee has scored the Longhorns\u2019 last five points.<\/p>\n

Fri, April 3, 2026 at 8:33 PM PDT<\/p>\n

After going 1-for-18, Booker broke her scoring drought, but she missed her next shot. It\u2019s getting late for the Longhorns.<\/p>\n

Fri, April 3, 2026 at 8:31 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Betts has 14 points and 10 rebounds about midway through the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

Fri, April 3, 2026 at 8:23 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Can she turn her shooting fortunes around and get the Longhorns back in this?<\/p>\n

Fri, April 3, 2026 at 8:20 PM PDT<\/p>\n

A huge Kiki Rice 3-pointer, a Charlisse Leger-Walker steal and a Gabriela Jaquez layup put the Bruins up big.<\/p>\n

Fri, April 3, 2026 at 8:11 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Carleton has Texas\u2019 last seven points as the third quarter comes to an end with UCLA up three. Lauren Betts leads all scorers in this low-scoring affair with 10 points.<\/p>\n

Fri, April 3, 2026 at 8:04 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Booker is having a rough night, just 1-of-16 from the floor. UCLA\u2019s defense has been stifling, but Booker\u2019s had her chances.<\/p>\n

Fri, April 3, 2026 at 7:57 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Betts (and Booker) seem to be OK. Betts goes in for a layup, which Kyla Oldacre answers with one of her own.<\/p>\n

Fri, April 3, 2026 at 7:51 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Madison Booker and Lauren Betts got wrapped up going for a rebound. Betts went down hard grabbing her head, while Booker was grabbing her left knee.<\/p>\n

Fri, April 3, 2026 at 7:47 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Both teams have struggled to hit shots so far in the third quarter, with each picking up just two points a couple minutes into the half.<\/p>\n

Fri, April 3, 2026 at 7:41 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Fri, April 3, 2026 at 7:25 PM PDT<\/p>\n

UCLA has been in control for most of this one, but Texas had a much stronger second quarter to put them within three. After the Longhorns only scored six in the first quarter, they held the Bruins to the same total in the second. Rori Harmon has a game-high eight points, while Gianna Kneepkens leads the Bruins with seven.<\/p>\n

Fri, April 3, 2026 at 7:16 PM PDT<\/p>\n

Rori Harmon drains a jumper to put Texas within four, but Lauren Betts answers immediately with one of her own.<\/p>\n

Fri, April 3, 2026 at 7:10 PM PDT<\/p>\n

In case you\u2019re wondering how this is going for the Longhorns\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The second game of the night in Friday\u2019s women\u2019s Final Four was the exact opposite of an offensive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":235073,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[90716,90524,28765,90717,35046,33399,2470,5278,9915,27,29,28,34576,15828,3132,3124],"class_list":{"0":"post-235072","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-final-four-game","9":"tag-gabriela-jaquez","10":"tag-gamecocks","11":"tag-gianna-kneepkens","12":"tag-kiki-rice","13":"tag-lauren-betts","14":"tag-longhorns","15":"tag-madison-booker","16":"tag-south-carolina","17":"tag-texas","18":"tag-texas-headlines","19":"tag-texas-news","20":"tag-the-bruins","21":"tag-the-longhorns","22":"tag-ucla","23":"tag-uconn"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235072","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=235072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}