Lauren Betts eruption leads UCLA over Ole Miss to advance to Elite Eight
Mar 28, 2025; Spokane, WA, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Kiki Rice (1) controls the ball against Ole Miss Rebels guard Tameiya Sadler (2) during the first half of a Sweet 16 NCAA Tournament basketball game at Spokane Arena. at Spokane Arena. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-Imagn Images Lauren Betts shot 15-of-16 from the floor on the way to 31 points as top-seeded UCLA pulled away from No. 5 Ole Miss in the second half of a 76-62 win in Spokane 1 Region play in Spokane, Wash., on Friday.
Betts delivered her second consecutive 30-point-plus performance of the NCAA Tournament, doing so while matching the career-high for made field goals she set in November against Colgate.
Behind Betts’ dominant performance on the inside, UCLA (33-2) outscored Ole Miss (22-11) in the paint 48-34. Betts also grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked three shots, doing her part to help UCLA hold Ole Miss to just 32.4 percent shooting from the floor.
The Bruins went nearly the first five minutes of the opening quarter without allowing a field goal and held the Rebels to two made shots from the floor in their first 15 attempts.
Despite a sluggish offensive start, Ole Miss battled back to trail UCLA by just one point at halftime. The Rebels capitalized on 19 Bruins turnovers over the course of the game, converting them into 17 points.
Eight of those came in the first half, giving Ole Miss its most reliable offense in an otherwise anemic stretch.
The Bruins took control in the third quarter, however, going on a 12-2 run coming out of intermission.
Kiki Rice assisted Londynn Jones on a 3-pointer to start the run, then Rice scored back-to-back buckets — first at the rim then on a 3-pointer of her own assisted by Betts.
Rice finished with 13 points and dished a game-high seven assists.
UCLA’s burst coming out of the locker room gave it a double-digit lead that the Bruins maintained for much of the rest of the night. The Bruins pushed the advantage to as many as 19 points down the stretch.
Tameiya Sadler led Ole Miss with 14 points, while Kennedy Todd-Williams and K.K. Deans each scored 13. Todd-Williams added a team-high nine rebounds.
With the win, UCLA will face No. 3 LSU on Sunday after the Tigers held off North Carolina State earlier in the night. The Bruins are seeking their first-ever trip to the Final Four.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Behind Kevin Gausman, Jays strive to stop skid in matchup vs. D-backs
Apr 7, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Kevin Gausman (34) delivers a pitch against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images The Toronto Blue Jays will turn to right-hander Kevin Gausman in an attempt to escape an early-season funk when they meet the Arizona Diamondbacks in the finale of a three-game set in Phoenix on Sunday afternoon.
The Diamondbacks secured the series win with a 6-2 victory Saturday on Corbin Carroll’s grand slam that broke a tie in the eighth, keeping each team on its current path.
Arizona has won four games in a row and 10 of its past 13, and has not lost a series since being swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers to open the season.
Carroll’s homer secured the Diamondbacks’ 10th comeback win of the season.
“We’ve played a lot of (close games),” Carroll said. “Maybe when you are in those situations, you know you don’t have to press.”
The Blue Jays have lost four straight games, six of their past seven, and have not won a series since a season-opening sweep of the Athletics.
Toronto has played through injured-list stints to George Springer, Alejandro Kirk and Addison Barger this year.
Gausman (0-1, 2.42 ERA) will oppose Arizona right-hander Ryne Nelson (1-1, 3.54) on Sunday.
Gausman has given up three runs or fewer in each of his four starts this season but remains winless despite his low ERA. In two of Gauman’s starts, the Blue Jays have managed just one run.
“We’re not scoring, but we’re definitely not scoring when he’s out there,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “I feel like he’s been as steady as he has ever been here. So looking for him to continue do that.
“He’s in a good place. Physically his delivery is sound. That’s the only time Kevin has been in trouble, with his delivery, and that’s been really good.”
Gausman gave up one run and three hits, striking out 21, over his first two starts, both no-decisions. He gave up three runs and six hits in his last outing, when he went five innings of a no-decision in the Blue Jays’ 9-7, 10-inning victory at Milwaukee on Tuesday.
Gausman has been successful against the Diamondbacks, going 6-2 with a 3.23 ERA in 10 career appearances (nine starts).
Nelson, meanwhile, has been betrayed by his defense at times. He has given up 14 runs in four starts, but only eight runs were earned. Atlanta scored five unearned runs off him in his second start, a 17-2 loss on April 2.
Nelson gave up two runs (one earned) over 5 1/3 innings in his most recent outing, a no-decision in a 9-7 loss at Baltimore on Monday, when the bullpen could not hold a 7-1 lead.
Nelson has increased his slider and curveball usage this season to complement his high-90s fastball. Against the Orioles, he had seven strikeouts — three on a fastball, three on a slider, and one on a curve.
“He’s had success pitching with velo (velocity) and only velo, but we want to allow him to go out there and change speeds, side-to-side as well as up-and-down,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “It’s a very conscious effort to have him pitch a little bit more than just going out there and let it eat with straight veto for 100 pitches.”
Nelson is 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA in three career outings (all starts) against the Blue Jays.
–Field Level Media
Entertainment
BookCon 2026: Authors Rachel Reid, Stephanie Archer talk hockey romance and how it could change the sport for the better
With the fervor of Heated Rivalry, there’s a fierce desire among book readers for even more hockey. On Sunday, April 19, at BookCon, the “You Had Me at Hockey: A Look at One of Sports Romance’s Hottest Genres”, authors Rachel Reid (Heated Rivalry, Game Changer), Emily Rath (Pucking Around), Ngozi Ukazu (Check Please), Stephanie Archer (The Wild Card), and Kate Cochrane (Wake Up, Nat & Darcy) were joined by moderator and fellow author Bal Khabra (Collide) to discuss the rise and continued success of hockey romance.
Khabra kicked off the panel, asking just how hockey became so popular. Ukazu joked that it was as if the genre “escaped containment,” like when the Omegaverse went mainstream, while Reid described the mystery around hockey, saying, “what [the players] are doing seems impossible.” Archer also added that the sport itself is exceptionally hard on the body, and the celebrity around players, especially in Canada, is fun to play with.
But there’s more to the genre’s success than the tropes. “It has to be said,” Rath argued, “that the cornerstone of why this is so popular in publishing is racism.” She went on to say that straight, white women’s voices dominated the romance genre for so long, pointing out that hockey is also the whitest sport. Among major league sports, the NHL is the most predominantly white. In 2022, ESPN reported that 83.6% of league players and staff were white, compared to the NFL, where 25-27% of players are white, or the NBA, where white players make up 17.5% of the league.
Mashable Top Stories
Zooming into the genre, the authors also spoke about the writing process. They dove into the deeper aspects of their work, even the smut. Rath said, “I think the least sexy thing you can ever do is write a sex scene.” A similar sentiment came up during Reid’s Saturday panel, where she described using the sex scenes to further the emotional arc. When readers ask authors if they can skip the spice, Archer says of her own books, “No, you can’t skip the sex scenes. You’re missing so much character development if you don’t go on the journey with them.”
The panel turned to the future, too. Many of the authors write BIPOC and queer representation into their novels, in a genre that often centers on whiteness and homophobia. “We’re writing the world as we want it to be,” Rath said.
Reid has found that there is progress toward a future that these authors and their readers want to see, saying that the NHL is interested in working with them. “People on the inside, they really want to work toward change and want to make this happen.”
With the hockey fandom at an all-time high, there’s a whole team behind these authors ready to drive change.
Sports
Phillies 'got to keep fighting' as Braves on verge of sweep
Apr 18, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Atlanta Braves third baseman Austin Riley (27) hits an RBI single against the Philadelphia Phillies during the third inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Less than one month into the 2026 season, the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies are two trains speeding in opposite directions.
The Braves have won eight of their past 10 games and will try to complete a three-game sweep in Philadelphia on Sunday night.
The Phillies have lost eight of 10, including 9-0 and 3-1 defeats in the first two games of this weekend set. Philadelphia had no answers for Chris Sale on Saturday, as the veteran left-hander allowed just one run over seven innings.
“My main focus was really just following his lead and just trying to execute good pitches,” Sale said of his rapport with catcher Jonah Heim, adding he wanted to “make good, quality pitches, because that’s a hell of a lineup.”
The Phillies managed only five hits — including four singles — and struck out 10 times against Sale and a pair of relievers. Philadelphia has a total of seven runs during a current four-game slide.
“It’s frustrating, but we’ve got to keep fighting,” said manager Rob Thomson, whose squad allowed three unearned runs on Saturday. “We’ve got to keep fighting. … But we’ve got to play better.”
The lone offensive highlight for Philadelphia was a home run by Felix Reyes off of Sale. The homer came in the first major-league at-bat for the 25-year-old outfielder.
Another promising Phillies rookie will take center stage Sunday as Andrew Painter (1-0, 3.77 ERA) will start following an unconventional appearance last weekend.
The 23-year-old right-hander was supposed to start last Sunday against the Arizona Diamondbacks, but a migraine led to a late scratch. However, Painter felt well enough to come on in relief, where he allowed one run over five innings, striking out seven and walking one in his team’s 4-3 loss.
“I didn’t know the extent of how long I was going to be able to go out, how good I was feeling,” Painter said. “But I wanted to go out there and at least get a couple innings to take that (workload) off the bullpen.”
Painter has yet to face the Braves in his young career.
Atlanta will counter with Grant Holmes (1-1, 3.32 ERA), who was pulled after allowing three runs in four innings Monday in his team’s 10-4 loss to the Miami Marlins. Braves manager Walt Weiss later noted that Holmes had thrown 99 pitches in his previous outing and that he was looking out for the right-hander’s long-term health.
Still, Holmes wasn’t pleased with his abbreviated performance.
“I started rushing too much and being too quick down the mound,” he said.
Holmes has made four career appearances (one start) against Philadelphia, posting a 1-1 record with a 1.17 ERA. He certainly doesn’t want to let Bryce Harper get going. The Phillies’ slugger had three hits in the series opener but went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts on Saturday.
Philadelphia likely will be without J.T. Realmuto in the series finale after the veteran catcher felt some back tightness on Saturday.
“We’re checking on him now,” Thomson said after Saturday’s game. “I doubt he’ll play (Sunday).”
For Atlanta, Austin Riley has been a pest over the first two games of the series. He has multiple hits in each contest — a pair of opposite-field home runs and four RBIs on Friday and two singles on Saturday.
–Field Level Media
Behind Kevin Gausman, Jays strive to stop skid in matchup vs. D-backs
BookCon 2026: Authors Rachel Reid, Stephanie Archer talk hockey romance and how it could change the sport for the better
