UCLA veterans led halftime talk before comeback in women’s Elite Eight

SACRAMENTO, CA — UCLA women’s basketball is still dancing in the 2026 Women’s NCAA Tournament, literally.

After No. 1 UCLA defeated No. 3 Duke 70-58 in the Elite Eight on Sunday, seniors Lauren Betts, Charlisse Leger-Walker and Gabriela Jaquez gave an encore performance of their choreographed dance in front of family and friends. There’s a lot to celebrate — UCLA is headed back to the Final Four for the second consecutive season.

“We did (the viral dance) in the locker room today, too,” said Lauren Betts, who finished with a 23-point, 10 rebound double-double. “I didn’t realize they were going to play (Tate McRae’s “Just Keep Watching”) on the court in front of everybody … then Gabs of course comes running over.”

Like the song name, fans get to keep watching UCLA as their March Madness run continues. And although the dance break marked a moment of pure jubilation for the Bruins, Betts experienced the opposite side of the spectrum just hours prior. “I was just pretty mad. I just didn’t like how that first half happened,” she said.

“This is the Elite Eight and my senior season is on the line,” Betts said.

The matchup between UCLA and Duke at the Golden 1 Center on Sunday was a tale of two halves. The Blue Devils led by as many as 10 points in the first half and the Bruins entered the locker room trailing for only the second time all season. UCLA completely flipped the script in the third quarter and went on to outscore Duke 39-19 in the second half to complete the comeback victory and keep their season alive.

But the Bruins didn’t need head coach Cori Close to muster up a motivational halftime speech to rally the troops. UCLA — made up of eight seniors, including all five of their starters — had already “taken care of things” and discussed adjustments long before Close stepped into the locker room. Experience was on their side.

“We could have gone into that locker room and just kept our head down and gotten mad at each other and been pissed off, but we want to win,” Betts, the Sacramento Regional 2’s most outstanding player, said. “I spoke to all the girls and held people accountable and I think I just came out with the mentality I’m just not going to lose. And so whether that’s me scoring or blocking shots or just getting extra rebounds, I was willing to do whatever the team needed.”

Senior forward Angela Dugalic, who was named to the Sacramento Regional 2 All-Tournament Team, said the team’s defensive effort was the first topic of conversation.

“We try to anchor ourselves on defense and we knew that wasn’t a great depiction of how we want to play defense, so I think that we just needed to adjust,” said Dugalic, who finished with 15 points, six rebounds and four assists off the bench. “I even told the guards I need you guys to get through the screen so we can properly help you guys and get back to our player. And then they had some things to say to us as well.”

Close has leaned on her team’s veteran leadership all season and trusts their instincts to get back to the fundamentals, although she joked she’d much rather have her players “listen to me before we went out and follow the game plan from the beginning.” Close said her main role at halftime was to bring a sense of calmness.

“I was going into the locker room talking to myself going, they’ve got this, be solid, stay really steady for them,” Close recalled. “When you have a mature group and when your culture is pretty intact in terms of the values, it’s better for me to be quick to listen and slow to speak so usually when I speak, I will have better things to say.”

UCLA will face the winner of No. 1 Texas vs. No. 2 Michigan at the Final Four in Phoenix on April 3.

Reach USA TODAY National Women’s Sports Reporter Cydney Henderson at chenderson@gannett.com and follow her on X at@CydHenderson.

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