Rivalry Heated: Bruins and Tigers Exchange Banter Ahead of Elite Eight Clash
As UCLA and LSU prepare to meet again in the Elite Eight, tensions rise with both teams sharing their thoughts on last year's encounter.
Same time, same teams, different place. LSU defeated UCLA in the Sweet 16 of the 2024 Women’s NCAA Tournament. On Sunday, they’ll meet again in the Big Dance, this time with a trip to the Final Four on the line. Ahead of the highly-anticipated showdown, the two sides exchanged words.
Ironically, the boldest comment came from UCLA forward Janiah Barker, who didn’t even play for the Bruins last year. She transferred from Texas A&M, but still holds bad memories against the Tigers from her time in the SEC.
“I don’t like LSU if I’m being honest,” Barker said to Brenna Greene. “I want to beat them as bad as they [her UCLA teammates] do, but probably a little more because Texas A&M and LSU was a rivalry. It’s like a rivalry game for me just reset.”
While Barker’s teammates didn’t go that far, it was clear the loss to the Tigers is still fresh.
“I think we all remember a lot about the game, the intensity, how physical it was, what a great matchup it was,” Kiki Rice said during an off-day press conference. “Obviously, we didn’t come out on top last year, but I think just everything that we learned from their style of play and how we needed to come out and how we needed to be more prepared. A lot of our learning from last year came from that game, and I think how we’ve tackled this season has really prepared us well for tomorrow’s matchup. But we’ll be ready. We have a great team and a fantastic staff that will prepare us, so I’m excited.“
In contrast, Tigers coach Kim Mulkey decided to take a different route in approaching the questions surrounding last year’s game.
“So they used our loss to fuel their season?” Mulkey remarked during her press conference. “I don’t know that we’ve really thought about that win very much. I just remember we won.”
From their last meeting, the Tigers forced the Bruins into 19 turnovers, significantly limiting Lauren Betts’ scoring opportunities. However, with the Bruins as the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed this time around, the dynamic seems to have shifted. Betts has shown considerable improvement, recently achieving back-to-back performances of 30 points and 10 rebounds. This matchup’s outcome could heavily hinge on whether the Tigers can again manage to contain her without their star player, Angel Reese.
