The Sports Report: UCLA gets revenge and advances to Final Four

Los Angeles Times

31-03-2025

Howdy, I'm your host, Austin Knoblauch, filling in for Houston Mitchell. Let's get right to the news.
From Ben Bolch: This time, everything came together when it mattered most.
Lauren Betts made sure of it, following one powerful move with another.
This time, the last seconds were full of joyous anticipation.
Kiki Rice made the most of them, sinking two late free throws inside Spokane Arena.
This time, there was reason to celebrate the meaning of it all.
Gabriela Jaquez made sure to marinate in this moment, bouncing gleefully toward half-court while her teammates formed a joyous mob.
A year after Louisiana State ended UCLA's season in the NCAA women's basketball tournament, the Bruins returned the favor.
Making the critical plays it needed in the final minutes, top-seeded UCLA pulled away for a 72-65 victory over the third-seeded Tigers on Sunday in a Spokane Regional final, propelling the Bruins to their first Final Four in this tournament in school history.
Hello, Tampa!
UCLA (34-2) will face either top-seeded USC or second-seeded Connecticut in a national semifinal on Friday at Amalie Arena.
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NCAA women's basketball bracket
From Ryan Kartje: Kennedy Smith could feel her body dragging. It was late December, and she'd just returned from a month-long injury absence. She was still getting her legs back, still trying to find her footing in her first season at USC. But there was no time for that here, not with Paige Bueckers and Connecticut pushing the pace, testing every inch of the Trojans' defense.
However fatigued she might have felt, no one could tell that day. The freshman had played just four games at USC to that point, but even then played an essential role in lifting the Trojans past the Huskies, all while on a minutes restriction.
To Beth Burns, the architect of USC's defense, it was classic Kennedy.
'What she does, she works four times as hard as some other people on the floor because of what we're asking her to do,' Burns said. 'She takes it on and then some.'
Four months later, as a rematch with No. 2 seed Connecticut awaits in the Elite Eight, Smith must shoulder more than ever in the wake of JuJu Watkins' season-ending injury. In USC's Sweet 16 win over Kansas State, she was the Trojans' catalyst on offense, scoring 11 of their first 13 points and leading the team with 19. But it's her defense that will need to make a difference Monday, as a possible head-to-head matchup with Bueckers beckons with a Final Four bid on the line.
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From Dan Woike: On this patch of land in Pacific Palisades, JJ Redick found heaven.
When his family would finish dinner, as the sun set over the Pacific Ocean, he and his wife, Chelsea, and their sons, Knox and Kai, would leave the house they were renting on Earlham Street and walk toward the spot he loved so dearly. From these bluffs he could gaze at the ocean and the Santa Monica Mountains.
He'd come back to Los Angeles looking for something exactly like this, the intersection of nature and community, a place where he could soak in the splendor while his young family could take root and become a part of the community's fabric.
'Everybody has, whether you believe in God or not, everybody has things that make you feel like you're closer to God, if that makes sense — where you can feel the presence of God or whatever spirit you believe in,' Redick said.
The spot reminded him of his childhood and the Blue Ridge Mountains where he grew up, and vacations at Holden Beach on the shores in North Carolina.
'Being where I can see mountains and the ocean is I'm like in heaven,' he said.
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From Dylan Hernández: When their moment came to show the world what they were about, they were served a fastball over the middle of the plate.
And the Dodgers whiffed.
Stupid me, thinking they'd overcome their penchant for choking when they won the World Series last season.
The Dodgers have accepted an invitation from President Trump to visit the White House on April 7, the franchise of Jackie Robinson bending the knee to hateful forces similar to the ones they challenged when breaking their sport's color barrier.
How pathetic. How spineless. More than anything, how hypocritical.
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From Ben Bolch: Remember those sayings about college football coaches in their first few seasons? You know, how people would justify their struggles?
It's still early. Give him time. He just has to get his guys in.
Well, those excuses are gone.
Less than a week after his first season ended, DeShaun Foster essentially said so himself.
'We're going to be able to reload,' the UCLA coach said in December when asked about holes he needed to fill on a roster that had just completed a 5-7 season. 'That's the nature of the business. You guys have seen plenty of teams go from three wins or whatever they did to conference championships, you know? Prime [Colorado coach Deion Sanders] has done the same thing — he lost a lot of guys in the portal and he was able to reload.'
In other words, Foster just put himself on a loudly ticking clock.
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From the Associated Press: Kyren Paris homered on the first pitch he saw after a lengthy rain delay and the Angels rallied to beat the Chicago White Sox 3-2 on Sunday.
Paris — a second-round pick in 2019 — hit his first home run this year after hitting one last season in 51 at-bats. Closer Kenley Jansen gave up a leadoff double to Andrew Vaughn and a walk to Matt Thaiss to begin the bottom of the ninth. He got Miguel Vargas to pop out before inducing a double-play grounder from Brooks Baldwin.
Mike Trout collected his first hit of the season when he singled to load the bases in the top of the first inning. Jorge Soler followed with a sacrifice fly and Yoán Moncada had an RBI groundout for a 2-0 lead.
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Angels-White Sox box score
MLB scores
MLB standings
From the Associated Press: Jarrett Allen scored 25 points, Donovan Mitchell added 24 and the Cleveland Cavaliers held off the Clippers 127-122 on Sunday afternoon.
Evan Mobley had 22 points as Cleveland reached 60 wins for the third time in franchise history, and the first since the 2009-10 season. The Cavaliers (60-15) moved 4½ games ahead of Boston for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
Allen and Mitchell also had 12 rebounds, while Mitchell was three assists shy of a triple-double.
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Clippers-Cavaliers box score
NBA scores
NBA standings
From the Associated Press: Adrian Kempe and Warren Foegele scored twice and Andrei Kuzmenko had a goal and two assists as the Kings set a team record for home victories in a season, beating the San José Sharks 8-1 on Sunday night.
Phillip Danault, Trevor Moore and Trevor Lewis also scored, and the Kings picked up their 27th home victory. They previously had 26 victories on home ice four times, with the most recent instance coming in 2022-23. David Rittich made 22 saves.
The Kings moved two points ahead of Edmonton for second place in the Pacific Division as they jockey for home-ice advantage ahead of a probable fourth straight meeting in the first round of the playoffs.
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Kings-Sharks box score
NHL scores
NHL standings
From the Associated Press: Steven Lorentz scored the tiebreaking goal on a deflection with 8:25 to play, and the Toronto Maple Leafs lost a two-goal lead before prevailing 3-2 victory over the Ducks on Sunday night.
Leo Carlsson scored his 20th goal and Sam Colangelo tied it on a power play early in the third period for Anaheim, which will soon wrap up its seventh consecutive non-playoff season. Lukas Dostal stopped 20 shots.
Carlsson put a shot through traffic for his fourth goal in three games. He has the first 20-goal season by any Ducks player under 21. The 20-year-old former No. 2 overall pick finished the best month of his two-year NHL career with 17 points in 15 games in March.
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Ducks-Maple Leafs box score
From the Associated Press: Rookie Riley Tiernan scored her first professional goal in the second half and Angel City defeated the visiting Seattle Reign 2-1 on Sunday night at BMO Stadium.
Tiernan's goal came on a header in the 63th minute. She's the third rookie to score in the league this year.
'Probably the highlight of my life, to be honest,' Tiernan said with a smile after the game.
Alyssa Thompson scored for Angel City in the eighth minute with a hard strike from the top of the box. She yelled in celebration before she was embraced by her sister, Gisele Thompson, a defender on the team.
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NWSL scores
NWSL standings
1923 — The Ottawa Senators of the NHL completes a two-game sweep of the WCHL's Edmonton Eskimos with a 1-0 victory to win the Stanley Cup for the third time in four years. Harry 'Punch' Broadbent scores the goal.
1931 — Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne and seven others die in a plane crash in a wheat field near Bazaar, Kansas. During his 13 years at Notre Dame, the 43-year-old coach, led the 'Fighting Irish' to 105 victories, 12 losses, five ties and three national championships.
1968 — The American League's new franchise in Seattle chooses Pilots as its nickname.
1973 — The Philadelphia Flyers tie an NHL record for most goals in one period, scoring eight goals in the second period of a 10-2 win over the New York Islanders.
1973 — Ken Norton scores a stunning upset by winning a 12-round split decision over Muhammad Ali to win the NABF heavyweight title. Norton, a 5-1 underdog, breaks Ali's jaw in the first round.
1975 — UCLA beats Kentucky 92-85 for its 10th NCAA basketball title under head coach John Wooden. Wooden finishes with a 620-147 career record after announcing his retirement two days earlier.
1976 — Cleveland Cavaliers beat Jazz to clinch club's first ever NBA playoff berth.
1980 — Larry Holmes scores a TKO in the eighth round over Leroy Jones to retain his WBC heavyweight title in Las Vegas.
1980 — Mike Weaver knocks out John Tate in the 15th round to win the WBA heavyweight title in Knoxville, Tenn.
1982 — NBA and NBAPA reach 4-year agreement on return for minimum & maximum payrolls, the first of its kind in team sports.
1984 — Mike Bossy becomes first player in NHL history to record 7 straight 50 goal seasons.
1985 — Old Dominion beats Georgia in the 4th NCAAW National Championship.
1986 — Freshman center Pervis Ellison hits two free throws with 27 seconds left to seal Louisville's 72-69 victory over Duke in the NCAA basketball championship.
1990 — 20-year old C Joe Sakic becomes the youngest player in NHL history to score 100 points in a season
1991 — Tennessee edges Virginia 70-67 in overtime for its third NCAA women's basketball title. It's the first overtime in the NCAA's 10-year history.
1991 — Amy Alcott wins the Dinah Shore golf tournament with a record eight-shot victory over Dottie Mochrie.
1994 — Chicago White Sox assigns former NBA superstar Michael Jordan to the Birmingham Barons of Class AA Southern League.
1995 — Major league baseball players end their strike.
1997 — Martina Hingis becomes the youngest No. 1 player in tennis history. The 16-year-old Swiss sensation, who claimed her fifth title of 1997 at the Lipton Championships on March 29, supplants Steffi Graf in the WTA Tour rankings.
1998 — Expansion clubs, Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks both suffer losses in their MLB debuts.
2002 — UConn women's basketball team beat Oklahoma, 82-70; Huskies conclude perfect season (39-0).
2002 — Andre Agassi wins his 700th career match and captures his second straight Key Biscayne Title.
2005 — Tarence Kinsey hits a 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds left to lift South Carolina to a 60-57 victory over Saint Joseph's for the NIT championship.
2012 — Ray Whitney passes 1,000 career points with a goal and assist in Phoenix's 4-0 victory over Anaheim.
2013 — In one of the biggest upsets in the history of the NCAA women's tournament, sixth-seeded Louisville stuns defending national champion Baylor in the regional semifinals, 82-81. It's the end of a remarkable college career for Baylor's Brittney Griner, a record-setting 6-foot-8 post player who ended up as the second-highest scoring player in NCAA history.
2013 — Pete Weber ties Earl Anthony by winning his 10th major Professional Bowlers Association title with a 224-179 win over Australian Jason Belmonte in the Tournament of Champions.
2017 — UConn's record 111-game winning streak comes to a startling end when Mississippi State pulls off perhaps the biggest upset in women's basketball history, shocking the Huskies 66-64 on Morgan William's overtime buzzer beater in the national semifinals.
2018 — Anthony Joshua beats Joseph Parker by unanimous decision to become a three-belt world heavyweight boxing champion. Joshua adds Parker's WBO belt to his WBA and IBF titles, and moves within one belt of becoming the first undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis in 2000.
Compiled by the Associated Press