By Lauren Betts UCLA will face South Carolina in the women’s NCAA tournament national championship game Friday night after the Bruins defeated Texas in Phoenix in the semifinals.
Betts notched a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds in UCLA’s 51-44 Final Four victory over the Longhorns.
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UCLA held off a Texas surge in the fourth quarter.
The Longhorns, one of the best defensive teams in the country, used a 12-2 run to cut UCLA’s lead to 47-44. However, Bates halted the Longhorns’ momentum with a big block on All-American Madison Booker with 20 seconds left.
“When that game happened, I was really, really confident that every time she was in the game, she was going to find a way to change things, stop people, scare people,” UCLA coach Corey Close said. “I just think she’s brilliant.”
UCLA’s Kiki Rice had 11 points and five rebounds, and Gabriella Jaquez and Gianna Nipkens each had 10 points and four rebounds.
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This is the first time that the UCLA women’s team has entered the NCAA National Championship.
UCLA will now prepare for Sunday’s game against South Carolina, a three-time national champion that ended defending champion UConn’s undefeated season and left Huskies coach Geno Auriemma angry.
Sunday’s national championship game between UCLA and South Carolina will air on ABC7 at 12:30 p.m.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.