Lauren Betts had 17 points and seven rebounds despite spending the entire second quarter on the bench, and top overall seed UCLA reached its first Final Four of the women’s NCAA Tournament with a 72-65 victory over LSU on Sunday.

The 6-foot-7 Betts added six blocks for the Bruins (34-2), who will face the winner of Monday’s game between Southern California and UConn. The Final Four is Friday night in Tampa, Florida.

Gabriela Jaquez had 18 points and eight rebounds for the Bruins and Timea Gardiner finished with 15 points, helping to pick up the slack went Betts went to the bench after committing two first-quarter fouls.

UCLA won a national title in 1978 in the pre-NCAA era of women’s basketball, but this was its first NCAA regional final victory in three tries.

LSU senior forward Aneesah Morrow’s nose was bloodied in a collision with teammate Sa’Myah Smith, but she checked back into her final game for the Tigers without any facial protection and finished with 15 points.

Flau’Jae Johnson scored 28 points to lead third-seeded LSU, which won the national title two years ago under coach Kim Mulkey but has now been eliminated in the last two Elite Eights.

The Tigers closed within 46-41 to start the fourth quarter. Betts’ layup extended the Bruins’ lead to 56-45 with 6:54 to go.

Johnson’s layup got the Tigers within 56-52 with 3:24 left, spurring an “LSU! LSU!” chant from the crowd. But the Tigers couldn’t get closer, and Jaquez made a 3-pointer with 1:30 left that all but sealed the Bruins’ win over the team that eliminated them from last year’s Sweet 16.

Betts — a matchup nightmare for any team with her towering stature and skill in the post — was coming off a 31-point, 10-rebound performance in the Sweet 16 and a 30-point, 14-rebound effort in the second round. She’s one of just three players to have multiple games with at least 30 points and 10 boards in the tournament in the last 25 seasons.

The Bruins jumped out early, but the Tigers had an 13-9 edge going into the second quarter. The Bruins went on a 6-0 run, capped by Gardiner’s 3-pointer, to take a 23-17 lead.

The Bruins held their own without Betts, heading into halftime up 31-25. Gardiner had nine points in the opening half.

Betts started the second half, extending the Bruins’ lead with a layup. Londynn Jones made it 36-25 with a 3-pointer.

UCLA pushed its lead 14 points before an 8-1 LSU run that closed the gap to 44-37.

South Carolina 54,

Duke 50

Dawn Staley took a victory lap around the court, giving high-fives to fans and South Carolina’s band and even autographing the rear end of a baby’s pants.

The Gamecocks’ coach has her team back in a familiar place — the Final Four of the women’s NCAA Tournament. This time, South Carolina had to grind out a close game to get there. Chloe Kitts scored 14 points and the defending champion Gamecocks reached the national semifinals for a fifth straight year.

Now, Staley’s top-seeded Gamecocks are two wins away from becoming the first team to repeat as champions since UConn won four straight from 2013-16. South Carolina will play the winner of the Texas-TCU game that takes place Monday night.

South Carolina was stymied for most of the game by Duke’s stingy defense. The Gamecocks came in averaging 80.5 points, but points were difficult to come by Sunday.

The game was tied at 46-all when Sania Feagin, who finished with 12 points, hit a jumper to put the Gamecocks ahead with 4:21 left. Kitts, who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the region, added two free throws 42 seconds later to make it 50-46.

Toby Fournier, who led Duke with 18 points, scored with 3:21 left to get the Blue Devils (29-8) back within two.

The Blue Devils trailed 52-50 with 29.8 seconds left when South Carolina’s Bree Hall was called for an offensive foul on an inbound play, giving Duke a chance to tie or take the lead.

Duke worked the clocked down before Ashlon Jackson airballed a 3-pointer from the wing with 7 seconds left.