LSU to face Iowa in Elite 8 after beating UCLA in wake of Washington Post story on coach Mulkey

Angel Reese says LSU's players are embracing the role of "good villains" as they make a run toward repeating as national champions.

Flau'jae Johnson had 24 points and 12 rebounds and Reese put up her 26th double-double of the season Saturday as LSU (31-5) beat UCLA 78-69 in the women's Sweet 16 in Albany, N.Y.

Reese had 16 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out late in the game for the third-seeded Tigers, who closed the game on a 14-2 run. Aneesah Morrow had 17 points and Mikaylah Williams added 12.

And all the while the Tigers did their usual trash-talking, screaming and waving goodbye to their opponent.

"We're the good villains," Reese said. "We're impacting the game so much and all of us are super competitive and want to win and do whatever it takes to win. We're just changing the game."

LSU advanced to the Elite Eight, where it will face Caitlin Clark and Iowa on Monday night in a rematch of last year's national championship game. The top-seeded Hawkeyes beat Colorado 89-68 in Saturday's second semifinal game in the Albany 2 Region.

Lauren Betts had 14 points and 17 rebounds for No. 2 UCLA, which finished the season at 27-7. Londynn Jones and Gabriela Jaquez also put up 14 points each and Kiki Rice scored 13 for the Bruins.

LSU led by seven points at halftime. But after making just two of their first 20 shots from three-point range, the Bruins hit four of their next five.

Consecutive three-pointers from Jones keyed an 11-2 run that gave UCLA the lead at 45-44, and the teams were tied at 48 headed into the fourth quarter.

Jaquez hit a jumper that gave the Bruins a 67-64 lead with 2:46 left. But LSU responded with its run, sparked when Reese blocked a shot by Betts, leading to a drive by Johnson that fouled out Rice.

Johnson had two early three-pointers in the first half. Her spinning baseline drive and layup highlighted an 8-0 LSU spurt that put the Tigers up 25-18.

The Bruins made only one of 16 shots from behind the arc before Jones's three-pointer from the left wing just before the halftime buzzer. That ended an 8-0 LSU run and cut what had been a 10-point lead to 34-27.

"Credit to LSU," Bruins coach Cori Close said. "They got the shots that they wanted down the stretch, and we didn't get the shots that we wanted. We did not execute the way that we needed to, and that's one that's going to sting for a really long time for me."

Mulkey questions timing of Washington Post profile

She wore a loud, multicoloured sparkling pantsuit on Saturday. After the game, she said she likely would not read the article but questioned the timing of its release just before her team arrived at the arena.

"Imagine that. Must have thought y'all would look at it, get some clicks or be a distraction," she said.

In other games on Saturday, JuJu Watkins led top-seeded USC past Baylor 74-70 and into the Elite Eight of the women's tournament for the first time since 1994. The Trojans will face Paige Bueckers and third-seeded UConn, which topped seventh-seeded Duke 53-45.

Kingston, Ont., native Aaliyah Edwards had 12 points, seven rebounds and an assist for the Huskies, while Emma Koabel of Port Colborne, Ont., collected a rebound and an assist in five minutes of play for the Blue Devils.