Lauren Betts and top-seeded UCLA push past Southern 84-46 in the Bruins’ March Madness opener
Lauren Betts and top-seeded UCLA push past Southern 84-46 in the Bruins’ March Madness opener
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lauren Betts had 14 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots, and top-seeded UCLA kicked off its quest for its first Final Four appearance in the women’s NCAA Tournament with an 84-46 victory over 16th-seeded Southern in the first round Friday night.
Londynn Jones scored 11 points for the Bruins (31-2), who are the tourney’s top overall seed after spending 13 weeks atop the AP Top 25 and winning the Big Ten tournament last week by knocking off archrival and fellow No. 1 seed Southern California.
But after a long year of spotlights and scrutiny, UCLA was still sharp and aggressive in its March Madness opener. That was the plan, according to coach Cori Close.
“I was fired up tonight,” Close said. “I thought I needed to coach them hard to hold the standard. I understood the expectations. I want my intensity to lead the way of what was important.
“We’ve been talking a lot about (how) we have a lot of talent, but that is not going to determine our ceiling. What determines our ceiling is our character, our choices, discipline, grittiness.”
The Bruins will face eighth-seeded Richmond on Sunday at Pauley Pavilion for a berth in the Sweet Sixteen. The Spiders routed Georgia Tech 74-49 for their school’s first NCAA Tournament victory behind 30 points and 15 rebounds from Atlantic 10 player of the year Maggie Doogan.
Aniya Gourdine scored 10 points for Southern (21-15), which beat UC San Diego in the First Four on Wednesday to secure this matchup. The Jaguars won the SWAC regular-season and tournament titles during a remarkable season.
“Their size was a major factor tonight,” Southern coach Carlos Funchess said. “Against a team like this, you have to pick your poison. Either you’re going to try to stop them from scoring inside, or you’re going to have to give them some 3s. So we tried to mix it up a little bit, tried to play some zone, but they were knocking down shots. So it was really tough to try to keep them off balance offensively.”
UCLA won comfortably despite a slight wandering of focus in the second quarter — the type of fluctuation fans barely notice, but coaches can use as a teaching point.
The Bruins steadily built a double-digit lead in the first half and a 59-33 advantage after three quarters, allowing Close to monitor her starters’ minutes for more challenges ahead.
“We’ve just got to continue to be focused on coming out from the start of the game with intensity,” said Kiki Rice, who had 10 points and seven assists. “The first quarter, we did that. But we had too many slips today in our focus and our attention to detail. At this point of the year, every team is very good and talented, so you don’t want to give any room for teams to make runs to come back.
“It’s hard to be focused the entire time, but at this point of the year we have to do that.”
UCLA is in the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season and the ninth time in 13 tournaments during Close’s tenure. But the Bruins have made just one regional final in those first eight appearances, and a three-weekend tournament run is the last goal they’re hoping to add to a lengthy list of accomplishments this season.
The Bruins’ size is formidable, particularly against smaller schools. The Jaguars also repeatedly saw why Betts, the Bruins’ All-American center, was named a finalist for the Naismith defensive player of the year award.
Takeaways
Southern: This loss takes nothing from a groundbreaking season for the Jaguars, who were 2-11 at Christmas after a nonconference schedule packed with big-money power schools. They subsequently rallied to win their conference and an NCAA Tournament game.
UCLA: Everything went well, but their balance was particularly impressive. Eight Bruins scored at least nine points.
Key stat
UCLA’s size is no joke: The Bruins outrebounded Southern 44-23, and it could have been worse.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here.
By GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer
