No. 1 UCLA 80, No. 4 Minnesota 56

In the closing minutes of the first half, it appeared that Minnesota had begun to settle into their offense. After a slow start, the underdog Golden Gophers had kept the top-seeded Bruins within arm’s reach, hitting multiple threes to space out the UCLA defense. 

In the waning seconds of the half, senior guard Gianna Kneepkens called for the ball on the low block. With a deft touch, she flipped the ball into the basket as the buzzer rang, giving the Bruins a five-point lead as they headed back to the locker room. 

With that momentum in hand, the Bruins defense returned to the floor stronger than ever. 

“We said ‘no matter what, we’re going to start this half with a kill,’ which is three stops in a row,” head coach Cori Close said. “Momentum changes off of shot clock violations are a big deal. We started to see ourselves get stops, and we were rewarded with transitions.”

UCLA forced a shot clock violation on Minnesota’s first possession. They followed it with a block from star senior center Lauren Betts on their next possession, which was followed by yet another shot clock violation. Minnesota managed to snag the rebound after yet another block from the Bruins, only to be blocked again. 

After going nearly five minutes without a score, the Golden Gophers’ scoreless drought ended with a three-pointer from junior Grace Grocholoski, but the damage was done. UCLA had built a double-digit lead, one they’d hold for the rest of the contest, winning 80-56. 

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UCLA is among the best three-point shooting teams in the country, but early on, those shots weren’t falling. The Bruins didn’t make their first three until late in the third quarter, starting off the game 0-7 from deep. 

“We really did not shoot it well,” Close said. “We had nine missed layups in the first quarter. We only shot 25% from three. But, we didn’t let that dictate our defensive identity, the emotions of being challenged on offense.”

Without that weapon, UCLA head coach Cori Close turned toward the paint, where their pair of veteran bigs feasted on an undersized Minnesota. Betts and senior forward Angela Dugalic combined for 29 points, almost exclusively from around the rim. The Bruins went on to outscore the Golden Gophers 52-22 in the paint. 

“If we’re dominant [in the paint], teams start to dig in and we get those inside-out threes,” Close said. “We’re one of the tallest teams in the nation. When you’re built for the paint, you can weather the bad-shooting.” 

Senior guard Kiki Rice led the contest in scoring, racking up 21 points on a steady diet of layups and floaters, applying additional rim pressure throughout the game. This was her most points in a single game since mid-January, when she scored 25 in UCLA’s previous matchup against Minnesota. 

“Teams are going to choose how they defend us,” Rice said. “We did a good job of sharing the ball and getting boards to set up our offense. 

The Golden Gophers’ best stretch came when they were able to establish some paint presence through senior center Sophie Hart. With her battling Betts, they managed to get their shooters loose, pulling within three during the late half of the second quarter. 

Ultimately, UCLA’s size was too much for Minnesota to handle, as Close returned to a two-big lineup, putting the game back out of reach. 

The Bruins advance to the Elite Eight, taking on Duke on Sunday. 

No. 3 Duke 87, No. 2 LSU 85

After opening the scoring with two free throws from junior guard Mikaylah Williams, LSU spent the rest of the first half playing from behind.

The Duke Blue Devils were playing a fluid offense and combining it with their signature tough defense, continuously forcing the Tigers into tough shots that weren’t falling. In the first quarter, LSU shot 5-for-17 from the field, and Duke had a 24-19 lead. 

The second quarter was more of the same. While the Tigers improved their shooting percentage, they failed to close the gap. The second quarter ended with a score of 57-50 in favor of the Blue Devils.

From the moment the second half started, however, the game quickly became a barnburner.

LSU closed in on the Blue Devil lead, taking charge of the game at 52-50. After that point, the teams were trading blows. Going into the fourth, Duke was up 67-65.

The beginning of the fourth quarter was all Blue Devils. The Tigers tied the score at 67, then Duke rattled off an 11-0 run in the following minute and a half, including three consecutive and-1 layups.

LSU, refusing to give up on the game, continued to battle to the best of their ability. By the time there was one minute left, there was only one point between them, a 84-83 Duke lead.

After two missed clutch free throws by senior guard Ashlon Jackson and an extended review time after a controversial out-of-bounds call, the Tigers had the ball with 18 seconds to play and a chance to take control of the game.

“In the late game moments, as a coach, you’re trying to stay poised and calm for [the players], because they take their cues from me,” Duke head coach Kara Lawson said. “There’s a lot of talking that goes on in my head in those moments of what I need to focus on and what messaging I need to give to them.”

After Duke sophomore forward Toby Fournier blocked a layup attempt from LSU senior guard Flau’jae Johnson, junior guard Mikaylah Williams got the offensive rebound and went straight back up, getting fouled on her attempt. 

She stepped up to the line and laced both free throws, giving the Tigers a one-point lead with nine seconds left.

Lawson drew up an ideal play, resulting in senior guard Taina Mair getting a wide open corner three. She stepped into it, took the shot and missed.

It wasn’t over quite yet, as the Blue Devils pulled in the offensive rebound. They had one more chance at advancing to the Elite Eight.

The inbound play went to Jackson, who maneuvered around the LSU defender and sent her attempt with the season on the line. What followed was an all-time March Madness moment.

The ball broke the threshold of the rim, spun around for what seemed like ages, and eventually sunk into the net as the buzzer sounded, ending the game and LSU’s season with a 87-85 Duke win.

“The way it went in, I felt like I was in a dream,” Jackson said. “It was just playing back over and over again before the ball went in.”

The game saw LSU’s star guard trio of Johnson, junior MiLaysia Fulwiley and Wiliams do what was expected from them, combining for 63. Johnson finished with 13, Fulwiley had a career-high 28 and Williams added 22.

For Duke, the tandem of Fournier and Mair led the way, scoring 22 points each. Closely behind them was Jackson, whose final shot brought her tally up to 19.

Duke’s next game will be in the Elite Eight on Sunday against UCLA. The two teams faced each other earlier in the season on Nov. 27, 2025, where the Bruins beat the Blue Devils 89-59.