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NCAA Tournament: UCLA storms back against Duke, advances to Final Four

March 29, 2026

UCLA center Lauren Betts (51) loses the ball against Duke during the first half in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament Sunday, March 29, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Justine Willard)

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SACRAMENTO — The UCLA women’s basketball team recovered from another slow start to beat Duke 70-58 in its second straight Elite Eight appearance to continue the journey of its 21st NCAA Tournament appearance.

The next round will mark back-to-back Final Four appearances for the top-seeded Bruins. They’ll play the winner of Monday’s game between top-seeded Texas and second-seeded Michigan in Phoenix on April 3.

Lauren Betts scored a game-high 23 points on 9-for-14 shooting while pulling down 10 rebounds. Angela Dugalić scored 15 points off the bench to go with six rebounds and had four assists.

The Bruins made second-half adjustments to cut down on turnovers and outscore the third-seeded Blue Devils 39-19 in the second half.

For the second straight game, UCLA struggled to hit 3-pointers and went 0 for 4 from long range in the first half. Gianna Kneepkens, the team’s 3-point threat, only attempted one shot from afar in the half as the Bruins struggled to open up the floor against a Duke defense that holds teams to 37.2% shooting.

The 17 points that UCLA scored in the first quarter were the fewest in any opening quarter of the tournament so far. The Bruins were feeding the ball to Betts, a 6-foot-7 center, and the Blue Devils’ answer was to collapse its defense on anyone who got the ball in the paint.

Adding to the Bruins’ struggles, they turned the ball over 12 times in the half.

Duglić, who surpassed 1,000 career points in the previous round against Minnesota, came in midway through the opening quarter to add height and potential mismatches. She went on to make 3 of 5 shots for six points in the first half.

It wasn’t enough to counteract Duke’s execution on both offense and defense.

UCLA guard Kiki Rice flashed her ball-handling skills with a turnaround dribble and Euro step layup to cut Duke’s lead to 25-23, but the ACC champions extended their lead roughly 10 points and held on to that advantage for most of the second quarter by dominating the mid-range with efficient shooting.

Taina Mair put up 12 points and Riley Nelson had 11 points by halftime and the team as a whole was making more shot attempts than UCLA, finishing at 53.1% from the field at the break.

Gabriela Jaquez made UCLA’s first 3-pointer of the game at the start of the third quarter, and Betts followed up with two layups on assists from Charlisse Leger-Walker.

Leger-Walker — the trigger to the Bruins’ shooting — had six assists in the game and continuously facilitated scoring opportunities. It was Gianna Kneepkens, however, who changed the course of the game.

Kneepkens hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key and threw down her arms in celebration as UCLA completed a 9-0 scoring run while simultaneously frustrating Duke’s offense. The Blue Devils had a stretch of 0-for-6 shooting late in the quarter and finished the frame with just eight points.

Dugalić’s grittiness held the team together in key moments down the stretch. She grabbed a loose ball after a missed 3-pointer by Rice for a buzzer-beating layup to close out the third, and made a tough layup early in the fourth. She made the ensuing free throw to give UCLA a 56-47 lead.

With three minutes left in the game, she hooked a layup as the shot clock expired to pull the Bruins ahead 65-56 and give her team enough cushion to finish out the win.

UCLA, the Big Ten champion, has now beaten Duke, the ACC champion, twice this season.

The Bruins earned an 89-59 Thanksgiving Day win over the Blue Devils on the second day of the 2025 Players Era Women’s Championship in Las Vegas. They were playing without Lauren Betts, who missed the game due to injury.

In the NCAA Tournament, UCLA had beaten California Baptist, Oklahoma State and Minnesota to reach the Elite Eight. Each win came by 19 points or more.

Duke was playing in its second consecutive Elite Eight appearance and was led by Kara Lawson, who is also the USA Women’s Basketball National Team coach.

NCAA Tournament: UCLA storms back against Duke, advances to Final Four Orange County Register

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NCAA Tournament: UCLA storms back against Duke, advances to Final Four

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