UCLA’s women’s basketball team, ranked No. 4 nationally, began its full Big Ten conference schedule with an 82-75 victory over No. 19 Ohio State in Columbus on Sunday. The Bruins improved their record to 12-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play, while the Buckeyes dropped to 11-2 and 1-1 in the Big Ten.
Senior Lauren Betts led UCLA with her fourth double-double of the season, recording 18 points, a season-high 16 rebounds, four assists, and three blocks. Senior Kiki Rice contributed 16 points and reached a career milestone of 1,500 points, becoming the 21st player in program history to achieve this mark.
Five Bruins scored in double figures: Betts (18), Rice (16), Emily Dugalić (15), Gabriela Jaquez (12), and Matyson Kneepkens (12).
The game started with Betts scoring on UCLA’s first possession. Kneepkens followed with a three-pointer assisted by Rice. After Ohio State tied the game with a seven-point run, Jaquez responded for UCLA with a shot from distance. Graduate student Charlisse Leger-Walker added another three-pointer off an assist from Betts.
At the end of the first quarter, Betts had six points, five rebounds, two blocks, and one assist.
In the second quarter, UCLA scored five straight points to take a seven-point lead. Dugalić contributed nine points and two rebounds during this period. With just over six minutes left before halftime, Rice assisted Betts who found Jaquez for a layup and foul. Dugalić then secured an offensive rebound for a tip-in basket plus a foul on the next possession.
Sienna Betts joined in with an offensive rebound and tip-in basket. Kneepkens made a steal that led to Rice scoring her milestone point on a fast break layup; she then added another basket on UCLA’s next possession to give them an eleven-point advantage.
Dugalić and Jaquez combined for fifteen of UCLA’s twenty-one second-quarter points while shooting eighty-six percent from the field together. The Bruins shot forty-three percent overall in the quarter and outrebounded Ohio State twenty-eight to fifteen at halftime while holding them to eight percent shooting from beyond the arc through twenty minutes.
UCLA led at halftime by six points.
In the third quarter, Lauren Betts scored ten more points and grabbed seven rebounds—including putting back her own missed shot—and Sienna Betts contributed defensively by making steals that set up fast breaks for Rice. As time expired in the third quarter after an Ohio State three-pointer closed their deficit slightly, Rice answered immediately by hitting her own long-range three as time ran out.
Kneepkens opened scoring for UCLA in the fourth quarter with a four-point play after being fouled on a successful three-pointer from Leger-Walker’s pass. Later possessions saw Rice drive into traffic before finding Betts inside for another score that forced Ohio State into calling timeout as their deficit grew to fourteen points.
Ohio State responded with nine unanswered points late but Kneepkens hit another key three-pointer to restore UCLA’s margin before Leger-Walker sealed victory with a late steal.
Next up for UCLA is an away game against Penn State scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 31 at 11 a.m PT; it will be broadcast live on Peacock.
