The Early Prediction: LSU Women's Basketball vs. UCLA Bruins in Elite Eight Matchup

Kim Mulkey and the LSU Tigers will square off against the No. 1-seeded UCLA Bruins on Sunday afternoon in Spokane with a Final Four berth on the line.

Mulkey and Co. are coming off of a Sweet 16 victory over the North Carolina State Wolfpack with the Tigers now preparing for a challenging foe in less than 24 hours.

“I think there’s five in our locker room that have never been to a Sweet 16,” Mulkey said, referencing Kailyn Gilbert, Miracle Sheppard, Shayeann Day-Wilson, Jersey Wolfenbarger and Jada Richard. “So they certainly haven’t been to an Elite 8, and that’s what excites you as a coach, is having players experience something for the first time. And you don’t take it for granted. You just don’t. 

“We made plays down the stretch. We made some bad plays down the stretch, but we made plays down the stretch to pull it out and win, and it means we did some good stuff.”

Aneesah Morrow was dominant, recording her 30th double-double of the season. She finished with 30 points, 19 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks against NC State.

“Nobody likes to lose, so I talked to my teammates in the huddle, and I told them we got to take our matchups personally,” Morrow said. “We have to be able to dominate and we have to be able to make defensive stops and we did that towards the end of the game.”

Now, all focus has shifted towards Sunday in Spokane with an Elite Eight clash against the UCLA Bruins inching closer.

The Elite Eight Schedule: Sunday, March 30 (Elite Eight)

(Times are Eastern)

(1) South Carolina vs. (2) Duke, 1 p.m. on ABC
(1) UCLA vs. (3) LSU, 3 p.m. on ABC

LSU will take on the UCLA Bruins at 2 p.m. CT with the battle to be live on ABC this Sunday.

The ESPN Basketball Power Index Prediction: UCLA Takes Control

ESPN BPI's Pick: UCLA Bruins
ESPN BPI's Win Percentage (UCLA): 66.5 percent
ESPN BPI's Win Percetnage (LSU): 33.5 percent

"The College Basketball Power Index (BPI) is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of performance going forward. BPI represents how many points above or below average a team is," according to ESPN.

"Strength of Record (SOR) is a measure of team accomplishment based on how difficult a team's W-L record is to achieve. Game predictions account for opponent strength, pace of play, site, travel distance, day's rest and altitude, and are used to simulate the season 10,000 times to produce season projections. Numbers update daily."

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