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The Steelers are on the precipice of a second consecutive offseason in which they have completely retooled the depth chart at the most pivotal position of quarterback. As of this writing, they have Mason Rudolph penciled in as their starter, even though the team is being patient in monitoring a potential Aaron Rodgers signing to be their starter.
Rudolph returns after one forgetful season with the Tennessee Titans, where he started five games after Will Levis struggled. Rudolph did not fare much better as he finished with a 1-4 record in games started, and a matching TD-INT ratio of 9-9.
Rudolph does have the respect of the Steelers' locker room after his success in replacing an injured Kenny Pickett in 2023 season, as Rudolph finished with three wins to get the Steelers into the playoffs.. The only other QB ...
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Fueled by a team effort to beat LSU, UCLA advances to its first Final Four
Proving they are more than just a "one-woman team", the Bruins beat LSU on Sunday to advance to their first Final Four.
[Jonathan Lee](https://247sports.com/user/Jonathan Lee/)11 hrs
LSU head coach Kim Mulkey called UCLA a one-woman team. The Bruins collectively proved her and all the doubters wrong, beating LSU 72-65 in the Elite Eight on Sunday in a complete team effort. The top seed UCLA advances to the first NCAA Final Four in program history.
It's no secret that this team revolves around Lauren Betts. She started the game blocking two shots, and making the first basket, and it looked like it might be another dominating performance. But the All-American center picked up two fouls in the first quarter for the first time in her career, one a highly questionable call where she was tangled with some bodies and didn't initiate contact.
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With Betts sitting to start the second quarter, the Bruins proved they are more than just one player. After trailing by 4, a turnaround jumper by Janiah Barker, a Kiki Rice drive, and a Timea Gardiner three gave the Bruins back the lead after 2 minutes, a lead they would hold the rest of the game.
Another three from Gardiner, and a corner three from Gabriela Jaquez portended things to come, and pushed the lead to 6. More importantly, the other Bruins continued to make plays and maintain a solid lead, allowing Betts to stay on the bench.
With Jaquez and Gardiner shooting the lights out, and Barker getting to the line eight times (making four), UCLA headed to the locker room up 31-25 at half. The trio combined for 23 points, and kept their team in front. Most importantly, the play of her teammates allowed Betts to sit the entire second quarter to keep her out of foul trouble.
(Photo: USA TODAY Sports)
The pattern for much of the season in any games where the Bruins struggled was the coaching staff making halftime adjustments and the team coming out of the locker room with their hair on fire. That was the case yet again, with Betts starting off the second half quickly with a layup. Aneesah Morrow, known for her fire and work effort, was slow to get back on defense after falling down on a shot attempt. That left LSU defending a quick out of bounds restart 4 on 5, and Londynn Jones got wide open for another three. That forced a quick LSU timeout, but that was not enough to stem the tide.
After Betts hit a pair of free throws, followed by a Morrow layup, Jones jumped a pass and pulled up in transition for a two-point jumper. Jaquez stepped into yet another three, and the Bruins took their largest lead of the game 43-29. The jumper was the ultimate no, no, no, YES make of all-time, with even Betts putting up her hand to tell Jaquez to slow down the tempo. Thankfully, Jaquez showed no fear and let the shot fly. The extended run ended up being 12-4 over just 3:20 of game time to open the second half. Hair. On. Fire.
The rest of the third quarter did not go as smoothly. LSU simply would not go away, showing their toughness and physicality to grind their way to a 12-3 run of their own to close the quarter. All of their points came from their big 3 of Morrow, Flau'Jae Johnson, and Mikaylah Williams, and the Tigers trailed by just 5 after 30 minutes.
A big moment occurred late in the third period. With UCLA trying to stop the LSU run, Betts tried to push through Sa'Myah Smith to get position in the paint. Smith, following the LSU MO, tried to draw another offensive foul and snapped her head backwards unnaturally despite the contact coming through her chest.
Unfortunately for Smith and LSU, her teammate Morrow was standing behind her and took a hard shot to the face from the embellishment. Morrow headed to the locker room after suffering a broken nose. Despite the injury, Morrow came back in and played all but eight seconds of the fourth quarter. That's a tough player.
Instead of relying only on LSU-on-LSU violence, the Bruins decided to come out and punch first in the final frame. UCLA ran one of its typical out of bounds sets beautifully on the very first play to get Gardiner her fourth three of the game. A minute later, despite being fouled by two separate Tigers, Betts continued to fight through the contact to score and finally get the foul. The primal roar she let out afterwards showed just how intense the contest was, and how much her team wanted to win.
Another minute later, Gardiner got free yet again and made her fifth three of the game. LSU believed UCLA was a one-woman team, and clearly didn't put her in the defensive game plan. After not even getting a single field goal attempt against Ole Miss, Gardiner went 5-8 from distance to score 15 massive points, and grabbed three rebounds. It was a season-high in three point makes and attempts for her. Not bad for a player LSU considered irrelevant. The junior told Holly Rowe "shooters shoot" at halftime, and her shooting was exactly the reason why she was such a sought after player out of the portal.
Gardiner fed Betts for a bucket at the 6:54 mark to give the Bruins breathing room with an 11 point lead. From that point on the game turned into a possession by possession chess match. LSU went on a quick 8-0 run, 6 scored by Johnson, to cut the lead to just 3 at
56-53.
Playing heavy minutes and facing ball pressure all game, it was clear that Kiki Rice was struggling, having scored just a single basket and making a few bad plays. She came out during the LSU run, with assistant Shannon LeBeauf talking to her on the bench and giving her a mental reset before coming back in during a one possession game.
With three minutes left, it was impossible to ignore the parallels with last season's Sweet Sixteen game. In that game, the Bruins led by a point with 2:30 remaining, but LSU closed on a 12-2 run to knock them out of the tournament. The team has been open all season about how that loss fueled them all offseason and throughout the year, driving their desire to improve and get tougher, both physically and mentally.
This year, UCLA would not be denied, led ultimately by their stellar junior class. The short rest clearly refocused Rice, as she came back in looking reconnected to her teammates. Jaquez made a brilliant hustle play that has become her signature to retain possession at the 2:35 mark. She again out hustled the other nine players on the court 20 seconds later for another offensive rebound. She eventually got fouled on the third attempt during that possession to push the lead to six.
After a defensive stop, Jaquez fully put her stamp on the game by grabbing the rebound. She came down the other end and took one of the highest arcing threes anyone in a Bruin uniform has ever taken. By the time the beautiful rainbow came down out of the atmosphere and went through the net, UCLA led by 9 and that winning feeling started to sink in.
Despite her previous struggles, Rice calmly made six straight free throws while LSU fouled to extend the game, and Angela Dugalic and Jaquez both went 2-2 to quell any comeback attempt. They combined for a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line in the final minute.
When the clock hit zero, the Bruins had exorcised some demons, getting revenge for last season's loss and getting over a real roadblock for the program. Betts finished with 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 blocks in just 25 minutes, and was named the Spokane Regional Most Outstanding Player. Jaquez and Gardiner were probably the MVPs of this game, combining for 33 points and 11 rebounds on 9-13 shooting from three.
This historic season marches on for UCLA. The Bruins now have the opportunity to add to their school record 34 wins. They won just their second conference tournament championship, ascended to the top spot in the AP Poll for the first time, and held it for a Big Ten record 12 consecutive weeks. Betts, Rice, and Jones all joined the 1000 point club, with Betts becoming the first AP First Team All-American in school history.
Not bad for a one-woman team. See you in Tampa.
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