Latest news with #TionnaLidge
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Lauren Betts goes into 'cheat-code' mode, leading UCLA to win in NCAA tournament opener
Southern's Tionna Lidge barely jumped for the opening tip. With UCLA's Lauren Betts on the other side, the result seemed inevitable. Betts had 14 points and six rebounds Friday as No. 1-seeded UCLA cruised to a 84-46 win over No. 16 Southern in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Pauley Pavilion. UCLA set program record for the largest margin of victory in an NCAA tournament game, besting a 75-43 thrashing of Texas A&M in 2017. The Bruins (31-2) advanced to host No. 8 seed Richmond in the second round of Spokane Region 1 on Sunday. The Spiders (28-6) won their first NCAA tournament game in program history by dominating No. 9 Georgia Tech 74-49 behind 30 points, 15 rebounds and six assists from forward Maggie Doogan. Read more: Secret behind UCLA women's success? Confidence-boosting visualization techniques The Bruins warmed up in new Jordan-branded shirts with 'Nothing Easy' printed on the front. 'We' was printed on the back on top of a horizontal bar and the word 'me.' The symbol of selflessness was apt for a team that led the Big Ten with 20.6 assists per game. UCLA had 23 assists on 26 successful shots from the field, overwhelming the Jaguars with their depth and size. Guard Kiki Rice led the Bruins with seven assists and had 10 points. Against Southern's starting lineup that had only one player taller than 5-foot-10, Betts spent most of her time in the low post with an arm raised demanding the ball against a favorable matchup. Since the game-changing transfer came to Westwood, the Bruins have completely shifted their style of play. Before Betts, they were beginning to embrace a five-out, motion offense common among international and NBA teams. They spent the previous two offseasons relentlessly drilling post entry passes. Coaches would not allow more than a few possessions in a row without the ball touching Betts' hands in the paint. The focus on Betts almost immediately turned the Bruins into a national championship contender. 'She's a little cheat code,' forward Janiah Barker said this week. Read more: Mick Cronin, head cheerleader? UCLA's coach tells his players they must believe Barker, the Big Ten sixth player of the year, had two of her three first-half assists to Betts and finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. The Bruins turned the ball over seven times during the second quarter, allowing Southern to cut into UCLA's 20-point lead. Crowded by a double-team, Betts was called for a travel and Southern guard Taniya Lawson converted the turnover into a pull-up jumper on the next possession to move the Jaguars to within 12 points. A small but boisterous Southern cheering section behind the team's bench waved blue and gold pom poms and a decorative umbrella. Betts quickly quieted them, fighting through a double team on the next possession and finishing through contact to end Southern's eight-point scoring streak. Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
22-03-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Lauren Betts goes into ‘cheat-code' mode, leading UCLA to win in NCAA tournament opener
Southern's Tionna Lidge barely jumped for the opening tip. With UCLA's Lauren Betts on the other side, the result seemed inevitable. Betts had 14 points and six rebounds Friday as No. 1-seeded UCLA cruised to a 84-46 win over No. 16 Southern in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Pauley Pavilion. UCLA set program record for the largest margin of victory in an NCAA tournament game, besting a 75-43 thrashing of Texas A&M in 2017. The Bruins (31-2) advanced to host No. 8 seed Richmond in the second round of Spokane Region 1 on Sunday. The Spiders (28-6) won their first NCAA tournament game in program history by dominating No. 9 Georgia Tech 74-49 behind 30 points, 15 rebounds and six assists from forward Maggie Doogan. The Bruins warmed up in new Jordan-branded shirts with 'Nothing Easy' printed on the front. 'We' was printed on the back on top of a horizontal bar and the word 'me.' The symbol of selflessness was apt for a team that led the Big Ten with 20.6 assists per game. UCLA had 23 assists on 26 successful shots from the field, overwhelming the Jaguars with their depth and size. Guard Kiki Rice led the Bruins with seven assists and had 10 points. Against Southern's starting lineup that had only one player taller than 5-foot-10, Betts spent most of her time in the low post with an arm raised demanding the ball against a favorable matchup. Since the game-changing transfer came to Westwood, the Bruins have completely shifted their style of play. Before Betts, they were beginning to embrace a five-out, motion offense common among international and NBA teams. They spent the previous two offseasons relentlessly drilling post entry passes. Coaches would not allow more than a few possessions in a row without the ball touching Betts' hands in the paint. The focus on Betts almost immediately turned the Bruins into a national championship contender. 'She's a little cheat code,' forward Janiah Barker said this week. Barker, the Big Ten sixth player of the year, had two of her three first-half assists to Betts and finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. The Bruins turned the ball over seven times during the second quarter, allowing Southern to cut into UCLA's 20-point lead. Crowded by a double-team, Betts was called for a travel and Southern guard Taniya Lawson converted the turnover into a pull-up jumper on the next possession to move the Jaguars to within 12 points. A small but boisterous Southern cheering section behind the team's bench waved blue and gold pom poms and a decorative umbrella. Betts quickly quieted them, fighting through a double team on the next possession and finishing through contact to end Southern's eight-point scoring streak.
Associated Press
16-03-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Lidge, Southern beat Alcorn St. 64-44 in SWAC title game, clinch NCAA Tournament berth
COLLEGE PARK, Ga. (AP) — Tionna Lidge scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds — the senior's first career double-double — to help No. 1 seed Southern beat Alcorn State 64-44 on Saturday night to win the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament. Southern (20-14) clinched its seventh NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, all since 2002. DaKiyah Sanders and Soniyah Reed also scored 11 points apiece for Southern. Destiny Brown made a jumper 15 seconds into the second quarter that gave the Braves their last lead at 22-20. They went scoreless over the next 7 1/2 minutes as five different Southern players scored in a 14-0 run — including 3-pointers by Reed and Taniya Lawson — and the Jaguars took a 36-24 lead into halftime. No. 6 seed Alcorn State (14-18), which beat Southern 59-55 in overtime on the road in the only regular season meeting between the teams on Feb. 1, made 2 of 10 from the field, 0 of 5 from 3-point range, and committed seven turnovers as it was outscored 16-4 in the second quarter. The Braves trimmed their deficit to 38-31 when Sharmayne Finley hit a jumper a little more than two minutes into the third quarter but the Braves got no closer. Brown led Alcorn State with 12 points and three blocks. Finley added 11 points and Nakia Cheatham finished with 11 rebounds to go with six points. Southern, which went into the game leading the SWAC in scoring defense (57.3 per game) and forcing 20.2 turnovers per game (No. 28 nationally), limited the Braves to their second-lowest scoring output of the season. Alcorn State scored 41 in a 52-point loss to No. 25 Mississippi on Dec. 30.
