The Bruins were led, like they were all season, by Wooden Award finalist Lauren Betts. The 6-foot-7 junior had 17 points, seven rebounds and six blocks, while Gabriela Jaquez's 18 points and Timea Gardiner's 15 helped see UCLA over the line.

The Bruins' junior center continues to improve her game during a dominant run in the NCAA tournament. The Tigers will try to slow her down Sunday.

The UCLA Bruins fell to LSU in the Sweet 16 last season, but they weren’t going to let it happen again. Their 72-65 victory in the Elite 8 avenges the prior loss and sends them to the program’s first-ever Final Four.

Lauren Betts was so dominant inside that she barely missed, scoring 31 points on 15-of-16 shooting to lead UCLA past Mississippi 76-62 and sending the Bruins to the Elite Eight of the women’s NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018.

If Ole Miss managed to push her out far enough from the basket where she couldn’t back down from her defender, Betts would go out on the perimeter and set a screen for her ballhandler, clearing the runway for a drive to the basket, a tactic that junior point guard Kiki Rice used to great effect.

But in Sunday’s Elite Eight matchup against UCLA, Mulkey will have the challenge of trying to get her team to contain UCLA 6-foot-7 center Lauren Betts, whose skill set has shades of Griner’s college days. Everything UCLA does runs through Betts.

UCLA women's basketball star Lauren Betts has been carrying the Bruins through March Madness and video from the sideline showed how much it's taking it's toll.

After one season at Stanford, the All-American center reclaimed her passion for the game with coach Cori Close and the Bruins’ tight-knit bond.

Lauren Betts, Ayoka Lee and Sedona Prince are traditional post players, and all have been in the middle of their teams making it to the Sweet 16 in the women’s NCAA Tournament.