SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- UCLA overcame a rare test from a tenacious Duke squad, rallying back from a first-half deficit to win 70-58 on Sunday and advance to the women's Final Four.
The Bruins trailed the Blue Devils for the vast majority of the game before senior Gianna Kneepkens made a 3-point jumper to take a 47-45 lead in the third quarter. UCLA went on to outscore Duke 20-8 in the quarter and maintained their lead for the rest of the game.
Heading into Sunday's Elite Eight matchup, No. 1 seed UCLA had the upper hand as one of the most balanced scoring attacks in NCAA Division I. But the third-seeded Blue Devils quickly proved that their defense was up to the test, scoring 16 points off 12 UCLA turnovers and putting constant pressure on star senior Lauren Betts. In the first half, UCLA went 6 for 12 on plays with a Betts touch, including seven turnovers. Without a Betts' touch, UCLA went 8 for 13 for 17 points and four turnovers.
Betts got going in the second half, however, with the 6-foot-7 center finishing with 23 points and 10 rebounds for her sixth career double-double in the NCAA tournament. She became the only player with 20 pints, 10 rebounds and five blocks in a game in the Elite Eight or later since Brittney Griner in the 2012 national championship, according to ESPN Research.
The Blue Devils found success early in their guard trio: Ashlon Jackson, Taina Mair and Riley Nelson. The three Duke players scored or assisted on 35 of Duke's 39 points in the first half. Mair accounted for 12 points in the first half. By the end of the game, Mair had 21 points and seven rebounds. With six assists, Mair matched the Duke single-season record with 201 assists (set by Chelsea Gray in 2011-12).
The Bruins buckled down defensively in the second half, however, and held Duke without a basket for the final six minutes of the third quarter. The drought didn't end until Mair hit a 3-pointer with 1:30 into the fourth quarter that pulled Duke within six points before UCLA ultimately pulled away.
UCLA, who fell last season to UConn in the program's first-ever Final Four appearance, is chasing the school's first women's national title. They will face the winner of Texas or Michigan in Phoenix on Friday.
