No. 1 UCLA women’s basketball looked the part of best team in the nation with a 91-54 win over Nebraska Sunday in Los Angeles. Lauren Betts led the Bruins with 21 points on 8-for-15 shooting, while also grabbing eight rebounds. Kiki Rice tallied 18 points with six rebounds, while Timea Gardner added 15 points off the bench and Londynn Jones contributed 11. The Huskers’ lone double-digit scorer was Amiah Hargrove with 12 points off the bench. Alexis Markowski, NU’s three-time all-Big Ten forward, was held to three points on 1-for-8 shooting.
UCLA led 21-17 through the first period and 37-30 at half before really distancing from Nebraska. A 10-2 run by the Bruins to begin the second half removed most of the doubt about the outcome. UCLA was red-hot shooting in the second half, hitting 19-for-26 field goal attempts (73.1 percent). The Bruins dominated the glass, outrebounding NU 48-18, and owned the paint, outscoring the Huskers 46-22 in the free-throw lane. UCLA’s finishing kick was impressive as well, as the Bruins hit seven of their last eight shots to end the game.
The opposition gets no easier, as Nebraska prepares to take on No. 4 USC Wednesday at 2 p.m in Los Angeles. Pregame coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. on B-107.3.