Rice pours in 24 as UCLA rallies past Creighton to reach Sweet 16

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kiki Rice scored 24 points, Lauren Betts had 20 points and 10 rebounds and second-seeded UCLA rallied in the second half for a 67-63 victory over seventh-seeded Creighton in the second round of the women's NCAA Tournament on Monday night.

The Bruins (27-6), who trailed by 10 points early in the third quarter, will face third-seeded LSU in an Albany 2 Regional semifinal Saturday afternoon. Top-seeded Iowa and fifth-seeded Colorado are in the other semi.

Lauren Jensen scored 20 points and Morgan Maly added 18 for the Bluejays (26-6).

Creighton led 44-34 early in the second half before UCLA fought back. The Bruins got back into the game with a 20-7 run that included 11 points by Rice.

The game was tied at 56-all after three quarters before the Bruins scored seven straight to start the fourth as part of a 9-2 run.

UCLA struggled with Creighton's off ball screens and transition game during the first half, as the Bluejays were able to get many easy baskets. Creighton was 13 of 22 from the field in the first half but only 9 of 28 in the third and fourth quarters.

Creighton led 20-19 at the end of the first quarter and then dominated the second quarter. The Bluejays scored the first eight points in the period and were 10 of 16 from the field as it went into halftime with a 42-34 lead. Emma Ronsiek led Creighton with 11 of her 14 points coming in the quarter.

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John Legend and his children along with former actor and former UCLA great Michael Warren were among the fans in attendance at Pauley Pavilion.

BIG PICTURE

Creighton: The Bluejays were trying to get a second-round upset for the second time in three years, but UCLA's size advantage, especially with Betts inside, proved to be too much to handle. Betts was back in the lineup after missing Saturday’s game against California Baptist due to a foot injury.

UCLA: The Bruins are in the Sweet 16 for the second straight year and trying to get to the Women's Final Four for the first time.

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket/ and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness