UCLA shows it's finally tough enough for NCAA championship with win vs. LSU | Opinion
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SPOKANE, Washington — The UCLA Bruins weren't always certain they had the toughness to get here.
Talent, yes. But the grit to withstand an opponent's best shot? The tenacity to answer physicality with physicality? The focus to not get rattled by foul trouble and bad calls? If the Bruins had it, they hadn't shown it when it mattered, when the stakes were highest.
Until now.
In beating Kim Mulkey and LSU to reach the Final Four for the first time in the NCAA era, the Bruins put everyone on notice that they are not to be messed with. You can get All-American center Lauren Betts in foul trouble and harass her into a sub-par night. You can erase their leads. You can bump them, push them and body them so badly there will be bruises and abrasions. (But not broken noses.)
Despite it all, UCLA will find a way to win. Because that's what it's going to take if the Bruins want to be champions. Which they very much do.
"There were lots of things that we could have gotten down about this game. I mean, obviously we had fouls. We had people maybe not getting calls or whatever," said Betts, who played just six minutes in the first half because of foul trouble. "But I think we were just all mentally prepared. We've toughened up since mid-season. We've learned a lot.
"As teammates, we just continue to hold each other accountable, and I just think it's worked so much forus," Betts added. "There's obviously been a lot of work that's gone into today. I'm just really proud of our group."
It is especially fitting that UCLA's grit check came against LSU, considering it was a loss to the Tigers in the Sweet 16 last year that propelled the Bruins to their historic season. They freely admit they were out-toughed and outclassed down the stretch in that game, and they’ve spent the last year ensuring that would not happen again.
“A lot of our learning from last year was from that game,” Kiki Rice said Saturday.
It's one thing to say you've grown, and another to actually deliver on it. Especially when regular-season losses to USC forced the Bruins to have another reckoning in early March.
But instead of floundering when Betts was on the bench in the second quarter Sunday, UCLA outscored LSU 22-12, with Timea Gardner making three 3s and Gabriela Jaquez hitting another to keep the Tigers at bay.
"The game was lost in the second quarter," Mulkey said. "We didn't capitalize on Betts being off the floor."
When LSU whittled the Bruins' 14-point lead down to five at the end of the third quarter, UCLA never flinched. Unlike last year, when UCLA had no answer for a late LSU run, Betts stood her ground in the paint to make a couple of big buckets and Gardner and Jaquez each made clutch 3s.
"The poise and the choice to go back to neutral, get ourselves refocused, and make the next right step, that's where I think the game was won," Bruins coach Cori Close said.
The entire game was a showcase of the Bruins' depth and unselfishness. Jaquez was UCLA's leading scorer, with 18 points, and Gardner was 5-of-8 from deep. Rice couldn't make a bucket, but she had eight assists. Janiah Barker took a couple of hard fouls and went 4-of-8 from the free throw line.
"I always say you can't give a team confidence," Close said. "You have to put them in situations where they can learn to conquer hard things and earn the confidence that they want. And they have done that."
That doesn't guarantee the Bruins will win their first NCAA title next weekend, adding to UCLA's storied legacy in basketball. They will play either USC or UConn on Friday night in the Final Four.
But if there were any lingering doubts about UCLA's determination or will, the Bruins answered them in multiple ways Sunday. Emphatically.
Follow Paste BN Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.