UCLA, the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA tournament, takes on play-in winner Southern on Friday night. Watch free on Fubo.
UCLA (30-2), the top overall seed for the NCAA tournament, opens its quest for a first NCAA championship on Friday night when it hosts Southern (21-14) in a first-round game at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles. The Bruins are in the NCAA tournament for the third straight year after winning the Big Ten Conference tournament in their first season in the league and have gone to the Sweet Sixteen each of the last two years. The Jaguars are back in March Madness for the first time since 2023 and picked up the program’s first tournament win on Wednesday.
How to Watch NCAA Tournament, First Round, Southern vs. UCLA in Women’s College Basketball Today:
Game Date: Friday, March 21, 2025
Game Time: 10 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
Live stream the Southern vs. UCLA NCAA women’s college basketball tournament first-round game on Fubo: Start your free trial today!
UCLA gained some measure of revenge in the championship game of the Big Ten tournament on March 9 in Indianapolis, beating USC — which handed the Bruins their only two losses this season — 72-67 with a big fourth quarter. Lauren Betts averages 19.7 points, 9.9 rebounds and 2.9 blocks while Kiki Rice scores 12.8 points per game.
Southern jumped out to a 20-point halftime lead on Wednesday and held off UC San Diego for a 68-56 victory. Soniyah Reed led the attack with 24 points while Aniya Gourdine added 17. Gourdine leads the team at 12.1 points per game and is their lone double-figure scorer while Tionna Lidge averages 7.3 points and 4.8 boards.
The Bruins have won their only two meetings with the Jaguars, most recently in December 2007. Cori Close is 317-142 in her 14th season at UCLA while Carlos Funchess has a 116-99 in his seventh season at Southern. The winner advances to face either No. 9 seed Georgia Tech or eighth-seeded Richmond on Sunday.
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