UCLA women primed for a different Final Four story After a lopside loss to UConn in the Final Four last season, the Bruins are ready for the big stage against either Michigan or Texas. UCLA’s Lauren Betts of reacts against the Duke Blue Devils during the third quarter in the Elite Eight of the 2026 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at Golden 1 Center on March 29, 2026 in Sacramento. Lauren Betts has watched the 2025 Final Four game between UCLA and UConn over and over again out of sheer anger. “I just didn’t understand how that could happen,” Betts said. “It just riles me up. It’s not getting mad at any individual. It was a team loss. I think, for me, it was how can I be better going into next year, and how can I push this team so we can get there again?”With another season of experience and a successful start to the NCAA Tournament behind them, the UCLA women’s basketball team has another shot in the Final Four against whoever wins Monday evening’s game between Texas and Michigan.“That was just a new scene for us,” graduate forward Angela Dugalić said. “Flashing lights — I keep saying that — but it truly was just a new scene for us. This year we have the approach of, this is a job. This is a business trip, at the end of the day. And we have a job to do. And that’s to win a national championship.” UCLA faced a step up in competition in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight in Minnesota and Duke. The Golden Gophers took away the Bruins’ 3-point shooting, and the Blue Devils’ well-executed defense held them to their lowest-scoring first quarter of the season. Duke held a 10-point advantage for most of the second quarter and, in a rare occasion, UCLA was trailing heading into halftime. And yet, after a season of dominance that includes a 29-game winning streak, the Bruins showed that they are still capable of digging deep to get themselves out of a hole. The locker room environment is fertile for comebacks, according to players. Dugalić said in the press conference that followed the Duke game that they are comfortable giving each other feedback during halftime without fear of hurting feelings or egos. “I’d be like OK, what have you guys talked about, what have we covered here,” head coach Cori Close said of the halftime locker room scene. “And then I had like two or three things that I thought were important, but I first listened. I think when you have a mature group and when your culture is pretty intact in terms of the values, it’s better for me to be quick to listen and slow to speak.” The depth that UCLA has developed could continue to work in its favor, whether Texas or Michigan is the next opponent. Betts reigns supreme in the paint, making layups and rebounds look easy. Kiki Rice dominates with her ball-handling and midrange shot, while Gianna Kneepkens and Gabriela Jaquez have the ability to stretch the floor with their shooting. Charlisse Leger-Walker’s basketball intelligence allows her to feed them the ball, and Dugalić can do almost anything off the bench, whether it’s creating mismatches in the post or scoring from just about anywhere on the court. She recorded a double-double against Minnesota and had 15 points on 7-for-13 shooting, six rebounds and four assists against Duke. “Angela was in a zone,” Close said after the Duke game. “I needed to use my timeouts to rest her and shorten the subbing rotation, because I could just see it in her eyes. She just had a presence about her and a confidence that our team was really feeding off of. I thought it was just important to ride that home.” UCLA has already played Michigan and Texas this season, and the Wolverines would be the Bruins’ second Big Ten opponent of the NCAA Tournament.The Wolverines have a strong trio of sophomores in Olivia Olson , Syla Swords and Mila Holloway , while Longhorns All-American Madison Booker is putting up 19.3 points per game on 52.1% shooting from the field, 6.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.2 steals per game. Whichever team advances, it will be business as usual for UCLA. Now that the frustration from last season’s Final Four is gone, the Bruins can move forward. “We know what it takes to be successful at that level,” Rice said. “We know the habits and the kind of basketball that you need to play in order to win at that stage. We’ve really worked hard in building those, so we have complete confidence in ourselves that look — this is a new group. This is going to be a different outcome.”UCLA women run away from Minnesota to reach NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight‘No Kings’ protesters in Southern California among 8 million demonstrators across the USNo more Cesar Chavez day, but some offices, services will still be closed in LA CountyLASD deputy, 30, dies in Baker to Vegas relay raceBreak up LAUSD before it fails another generationLaid-off KTLA weathercaster Kacey Montoya will return for a few more weeks