SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Lauren Betts and her fellow UCLA seniors wouldn't allow their season to end short of the Final Four.
Betts had 23 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks to help UCLA rally from a rare halftime deficit and beat Duke 70-58 on Sunday, advancing to the national semifinals for the second straight season.
“I was pretty mad, didn’t like how that first half happened,” Betts said. “I could have been a lot more effective. A game like this you got to take yourself out of your head. This is the Elite Eight and my senior season is on the line, so got to wake up a little bit.”
The 6-foot-7 Betts and her teammates did just that.
The top-seeded Bruins will play either Texas or Michigan in Phoenix on Friday, with unbeaten UConn on the other side of the Final Four bracket. UCLA is two wins away from the program's first NCAA title.
“We just have the mentality of this being a business trip. I can't emphasize that enough,” said UCLA's Angela Dugalic.
As the team was cutting down the nets in celebration, Betts, Gabriela Jaquez and Charlisse Leger-Walker brought back out the choreographed dance routine they performed with the UCLA Spirit Squad during a men's basketball game.
Third-seeded Duke tested UCLA (35-1) like few teams had this season. The Bruins struggled to get going offensively or contain the Blue Devils (27-9), who reached their second straight Elite Eight thanks to a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Ashlon Jackson against LSU.
Taina Mair scored 21 points to lead Duke, which also lost in a regional final last year.
With UCLA trailing by eight at the half, Betts, Dugalic and Gianna Kneepkens played with more urgency.
UCLA was down 45-41 midway through the third quarter before using a 10-2 run to take its first lead since scoring the first basket of the game. Kneepkens' 3-pointer gave the Bruins a 47-45 advantage.
Defensively, UCLA stymied Duke, not allowing the Blue Devils a basket for the final 6:12 of the period. That drought didn't end until Mair hit a 3-pointer 1:30 into the fourth quarter that got Duke within 56-50.
The Blue Devils got no closer the rest of the way.
“They’re a really good team. They’re super experienced,” Mair said. “When they came out, we just didn’t have a response to it. So credit to them for going into the locker room and making the correct changes to be able to win the game. But they played a great second half.”
Betts, who scored 15 points in the second half, was too much as the Bruins won their 29th consecutive game.
Duke came out attacking UCLA offensively and double-teaming the All-American Betts on the defensive end. Betts didn't get her first points until she hit two free throws with 1:21 left in first quarter. She scored the last six points of the quarter for UCLA, which trailed 21-17 at the end of the period.
Mair and Riley Nelson continued the offensive onslaught in the second quarter as the Blue Devils took a 39-31 lead into the half.
It was the second time the Bruins trailed at the half this season. The other time was in their only loss, to Texas in a November tournament in Las Vegas.
UCLA and Duke also met in that tournament and the Bruins won easily without Betts.
"The Duke team we played then and we played now were two different teams," Dugalic said.
The Blue Devils came together soon after that defeat to win 24 of their last 27 games after starting 3-6.
Duke just couldn't make anything from behind the 3-point line. The Blue Devils were 1 of 13 from behind the arc, missing their first 10 shots. They shot nearly 34% on 3-pointers this season. UCLA wasn't much better, going 2 of 14 from 3. Both of those came in the third quarter when the Bruins made their run.
Singer Ernestine Balisi worked her way through “The Star-Spangled Banner” with a faulty microphone that kept cutting in and out. When it was evident a few bars in that the microphone was malfunctioning, the crowd joined in as the anthem echoed throughout the arena.
Balisi was given a backup mic near the end of the anthem and the crowd gave a loud ovation as she belted out the last few words.
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
UCLA center Lauren Betts (51) loses the ball against Duke during the first half in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament Sunday, March 29, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Justine Willard)
Duke guard Taina Mair (22) shoots over UCLA guard Kiki Rice (1) during the first half in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament Sunday, March 29, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Justine Willard)
UCLA center Lauren Betts (51) hits Duke forward Delaney Thomas (12) in the face during the first half in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament Sunday, March 29, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Justine Willard)
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Munetaka Murakami of the Chicago White Sox and Chase DeLauter of the Cleveland Guardians have accomplished something in the last week that had been done only twice before.
The two rookies homered in each of their first three major league games. According to Sportradar, the only other players to hit home runs in at least their first three Major League Baseball games were Trevor Story with the Colorado Rockies in 2016 and Kyle Lewis with the Seattle Mariners in 2019.
Murakami said after the White Sox's 9-7 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday that he's “truly grateful and happy” to achieve that type of milestone but added he still has plenty to work on as he begin his career.
“There's still a long way to go and lots of ways to improve, so that's what I'll keep on doing in the upcoming days,” Murakami said through interpreter Kenzo Yagi.
Story owns the MLB record with homers in his first four career games. DeLauter will try to match that when the Guardians play at Seattle later Sunday.
Murakami, 26, added his name to the club Sunday by sending a 3-2 pitch from Milwaukee's Brandon Sproat over the wall in right-center and into the White Sox bullpen in the second inning. The Japanese slugger homered off Jake Woodford in the ninth inning of his debut Thursday and went deep against Chad Patrick in the fourth inning Saturday.
“The park doesn’t seem big enough to hold him, you know what I mean?" Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. "He’s impressive.”
The White Sox could use some good news. They've lost over 100 games each of the last three seasons and they were outscored a combined 20-3 in their first two games this year before blowing a 7-2 lead on Sunday.
But the emergence of Murakami at least gives them some reason for hope.
“It all translates from his work, his preparation and things like that,” White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery said. “It's one thing that I respect a lot. He comes in day in and day out and he's doing stuff. He never skips anything. He's always working on his craft. He's a hard worker. To me, I think it just makes sense why he's going out there and he's performing really well.”
Murakami signed a two-year, $34 million contract with the White Sox in December after hitting 246 homers over eight seasons with the Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Central League — including a 56-homer season in 2022.
He also struck out 977 times out of 3,780 plate appearances in Japan, leading to some questions about his chances of success in the majors. Murakami has four strikeouts already — including three on Sunday — but he also has walked four times and owns a .538 on-base percentage.
White Sox pitcher Anthony Kay, who played in Japan the last two years, had no doubt that Murakami's power would translate.
“I watched him two years in Japan," Kay said. “I'm not surprised by it. I know some people are, but I've seen it, so I'm not surprised.”
DeLauter, 24, has four homers in his first three games.
The outfielder went deep twice in his MLB debut on Thursday and became the fifth player in the Guardians' 126-year history to homer in his first career regular-season at bat. He added a solo shot off Seattle's George Kirby on Friday. DeLauter struck out three times Saturday but hit a two-run blast off Andrés Muñoz in the 10th inning of a 6-5 victory.
“That shows the maturity right there,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said Saturday. “He had a tough night up until that point, and obviously facing one of the best closers in the league — if not the best closer in the league — and to hit a ball oppo in Seattle at night when it's cold, that takes some kind of power.”
Cleveland had drafted DeLauter out of James Madison with the 16th pick in 2022. He made the Guardians' season-opening roster after hitting .459 with a .535 on-base percentage and three homers in 14 spring training games.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
Milwaukee Brewers right fielder Sal Frelick misses a home run hit by Chicago White Sox's Munetaka Murakami (5) during the second inning of a baseball game, Sunday, March 29, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)
Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Brandon Sproat throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Sunday, March 29, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)
Chicago White Sox's Munetaka Murakami scores on a home run during the second inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Sunday, March 29, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)
Chicago White Sox's Chase Meidroth, left, and manager Will Venable, right, congratulate Munetaka Murakami (5) after Murakami hit a home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)
Chicago White Sox's Munetaka Murakami runs the bases after hitting a home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)
Chicago White Sox's Munetaka Murakami runs the bases after hitting a home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)
