LSU vs UCLA in March Madness: Prediction for 2024 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16

For the second straight season, LSU women's basketball has advanced to at least the Sweet 16 in March Madness.

Kim Mulkey and No. 3 LSU (30-5) got out of the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament at home in Baton Rouge by defeating No. 14 Rice in the opening round before rallying to rout No. 11 Middle Tennessee 83-56 Sunday afternoon.

Stars Angel Reese and Flau'jae Johnson lead the Tigers into the Sweet 16 this weekend in Albany, New York where they'll face No. 2 UCLA (27-6).

The Bruins beat No. 7 Creighton 67-63 on Monday night in the Round of 32 at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.

LSU's Angel Reese, UCLA's Lauren Betts matchup will be must-see viewing in Sweet 16

The most anticipated, headlining positional matchup will hands-down be Reese against UCLA center Lauren Betts.

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Their games are different as Betts is more of a traditional center while Reese possesses athleticism and has the ability to bring the ball up the floor and take her defender off the bounce.

Reese, as well as freshman LSU center Aalyah Del Rosario when she's in the game, will have to contend with Betts trying to backdown her defender as close to the basket as well. And Betts will have the size advantage at 6-foot-7 over Reese at 6-4.

Betts sat out the first round game for UCLA and came back for the matchup with Creighton. The Bruins center had 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting with 10 rebounds.

In LSU's first two tournament games, Reese has scored 3 0points and had 30 rebounds.

UCLA has one of the better defenses in 2024 NCAA Tournament

For most of the season, opponents have found scoring on the Bruins a tall order.

UCLA boasts the 19th best field goal percentage defense in women's college basketball, allowing teams to shoot just 36.3% from the floor.

For UCLA coach Cori Close, it starts with her guards sophomore Kiki Rice, senior Charisma Osborne and Londynn Jones on the perimeter. The Bruins put opposing guards in binds all game long with pressure, trying to speed them up. All three of UCLA's guards have at least 35 steals on the season, led by Osborne who has 52.

And having Betts inside causes its own set of problems for bigs on the interior.

Ball security will be at a premium for LSU guards Hailey Van Lith, Mikaylah Williams and Flau'jae Johnson.

LSU, UCLA both have plenty of scoring options

Both LSU and UCLA are two of the few teams in the country who's entire starting five averages scoring double digits.

Reese leads the Tigers at 18.7 points while Aneesah Morrow records 16.5 and Williams, Johnson and Van Lith all score 14.5, 14.4 and 11 points, respectively.

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For the Bruins, Betts paces the team at 14.7 points per game. Osborne puts up 14.4 points, Rice with 12.9, Jones at 12.1 and Gabriela Jaquez averages 10 points.

Both defenses will be stressed in this matchup.

LSU women's basketball score prediction vs UCLA in Sweet 16

LSU 74, UCLA 69: Offense will lead the way in this game but LSU's defense will make just enough stops in the end to survive and advance to the Elite Eight.

Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz atbdiaz@gannett.com.