Battle in the Sweet 16: Can UCLA Outshine Ole Miss?
The UCLA Bruins women’s basketball team has been on a roll since the Ben Ten Tournament and won against Nebraska with a score of 85-74. As they continued on their victories, they went up against Richmond recently in the NCAA Tournament’s second round and blew them out as well. The Bruins are ranked number one as they took down an eighth-ranked team, the Richmond Spiders, 84-67, as they move up to advance to the Sweet 16 of the 2025 Tournament against Ole Miss. Lauren Betts was unstoppable in this game against the Spiders as she put up 30 points and 14 rebounds for UCLA as the Bruins pulled it together in the third quarter. With the starting lineup, the Bruins were unstoppable from the beginning, starting with a tip with a quick strike. The game began and was tied up quickly. Richmond was able to attack to go up for baskets on UCLA, but the Bruins had a significant offense; they had so many weapons and tricks up their sleeve against Richmond it was initially hard for them to attack without having to foul them. Richmond was using their body on the Bruins and was making triple shots.
The Bruins easily let Richmond go through the paint to the glass over and over. UCLA was able to gather and finish putting up making shots and layups to recover. The Bruins have a lot of three-pointer shots, and that's what Ole Miss definitely will have to watch out for in this match-up, especially if you're going to leave the paint open. The Bruins are in the second lead with a winning five-streak, holding a 16-2 standing in the Big Ten conference. Their leading five-star players are Lauren Betts with 19.7 points, 2.9 blocks, and 9.7 rebounds, while Kiki Rice has 4.9 assists and 1.5 steals. The Ole Miss Rebels are ranked number five with a winning streak of two, holding a record of 10-6 in the Southeastern Conference. The Rebels' recent game with Baylor was a close victory for the Rebels with a score of 69-63. This matchup was a tight win for both teams. With this matchup, it was a close game as the quarters went on; defense and offense were unstoppable, and KK Deans and Sira Thienou all scored in double figures to lead the Rebels to a victory.
The Rebels were able to attack the ball and make fast breaks on the Baylor Bears, but they were getting back on defense, and the Rebels could not keep up. Playing against UCLA, you need to be ready, the Bruins are bringing on the court their team will be winning to play not to lose, and if the Rebels can't keep up, UCLA is going to beat them with fast break passes, three-point shots, and layups right through the paint if they can't get back on defense to stop them from shooting. This was a tied-up matchup going back and forth with one another. Madison Scott is one of the Rebels leading scorers, contributing 12.1 pts, 3.8 assists, and 0.9 blocks per game. While Starr Jacobs puts up 6.2 rebounds and Sira Thienou has 2.4 steals. As we lead up to this Sweet 16 tournament with Ole Miss vs. UCLA premiering on ESPN on March 28th at 10:00 p.m., this is a game you don't want to miss. Betts from the Bruins and Scott from the Rebels will be going head-to-head.
