No. 2 UCLA will face the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in a women’s basketball game on Wednesday night at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles. The matchup is set to begin at 7 p.m. PT and will be broadcast on B1G+.
UCLA enters the contest with a 21-1 overall record and an 11-0 mark in Big Ten Conference play, while Rutgers holds a 9-13 overall record and is 1-10 in conference games. This meeting marks the eighth all-time between the programs, with UCLA holding a narrow 4-3 advantage and winning their only previous Big Ten matchup against Rutgers.
The last time these teams met was on January 23 in Piscataway, New Jersey, where UCLA won 84-66. Center Lauren Betts posted a double-double with 25 points and 13 rebounds, adding five blocks. Point guard Kiki Rice also achieved a double-double with ten points and ten assists.
In their most recent outing, UCLA defeated No. 8 Iowa by a score of 88-65 on February 1. Graduate forward Angela Dugalićc led all scorers with 22 points, tying her career high and recording five steals. Five Bruins scored in double figures: Dugalićc (22), Kiki Rice (17), Lauren Betts (16), Gianna Kneepkens (10), and Charlisse Leger-Walker (10). The team shot nearly 58 percent from the field and made all eight free throw attempts, assisting on 29 of their 37 made baskets.
Kiki Rice surpassed the milestone of over one hundred assists for her fourth consecutive season during that game. She became just the fifth player in program history to achieve four seasons with more than one hundred assists.
Wednesday’s game will also see former UCLA associate head coach Shannon LeBeauf return to Pauley Pavilion as part of the Rutgers coaching staff. LeBeauf joined Rutgers as associate head coach in summer 2025 after serving on Coach Close’s staff at UCLA from the 2011-12 through the end of the previous season. During her tenure at UCLA, she helped secure nine NCAA tournament appearances, a WNIT championship in 2015, and guided recruiting efforts that brought two top-ranked classes to Westwood. LeBeauf will receive her Final Four ring during a pregame tribute video.
UCLA started this season ranked third nationally by the Associated Press poll released October 14. The Bruins faced several ranked opponents early in November—finishing that month with three wins out of four such matchups—and played six of their first eight games at neutral sites including two trips to Las Vegas for major tournaments.
The team has accumulated eight wins over ranked opponents this year—five within conference play—and currently leads the Big Ten standings outright at an undefeated mark since late December. Seven programs from the Big Ten are included in this week’s AP Top 25 poll; UCLA is joined by Michigan, Ohio State, Iowa, Michigan State, Maryland, and Washington among others receiving votes.
Last season saw UCLA win twenty-three straight games—a program record—with twenty-two victories coming by double digits.
The roster includes seven McDonald’s All Americans: Lauren Betts, Sienna Betts, Angela Dugalićc, Timea Gardiner, Gabriela Jaquez, Amanda Muse, and Kiki Rice; Jaquez and Rice shared co-MVP honors at the all-star game.
Five players are averaging double-digit scoring for UCLA this season: L. Betts (16.4), K. Rice (15.0), G. Jaquez (14.4), G. Kneepkens (13.5) and A. Dugalićc (10). The starting lineup averages over sixty-eight points per game collectively.
Statistically, UCLA leads its conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.75), total assists (500), field goal percentage (.518), defensive field goal percentage (.361 allowed), rebounding margin (+15.4 per game), scoring margin (+29.7) as well as ranking highly nationally for three-point shooting accuracy (.388) and NET rankings—with twelve Quad One wins so far this season.
