No. 25 Nebraska women’s basketball was overmatched in an 83-61 loss to No. 4 UCLA Sunday at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Lauren Betts led the Bruins (15-1, 5-0 BIg Ten) with 18 points (on eight-for-14 shooting) and 10 rebounds. Gianna Kneepkins tallied 16 points, while Charlisse Leger-Walker scored 14 including four three-pointers. Kiki Rice and Sienna Betts scored 12 while Gabriela Jaquez contributed 11.
Amiah Hargrove scored 12 for the Cornhuskers (15-3, 3-3 Big Ten), while Logan NIssley tallied 11. Jessica Petrie, Eliza Maupin and Callin Hake all scored 10 each. Britt Prince was held to six points on three-for-11 shooting.
UCLA outshot Nebraska, 48 percent to 38 percent. The Bruins made nine three-pointers to the Huskers’ six. UCLA dominated the glass, outrebounding Nebraska, 43-28, while beating the Huskers on points in the paint, 40-26.
Nebraska led 7-6 with 4:24 to go in the first quarter, but the Bruins went on a 7-0 run to take control of the game. UCLA led 17-11 through one quarter. After a three-pointer by Nissley cut the Bruins’ lead to 17-14, a 9-2 Bruins run pushed the UCLA lead to 10 for the first time with 5:40 to go in the half. The Bruins grew the lead to 15 before taking a 37-25 lead to halftime.
UCLA started the third quarter on a 15-5 run to push the lead to 52-32 with four minutes to go in the period. A Lauren Betts layup in the final seconds of the third quarter pushed the lead to 61-41. Nebraska trailed by at least 16 points the entire fourth quarter.
The Huskers return to action Thursday at 6 p.m. at Michigan State. Pregame coverage begins at 5:30 p.m. on KLIN and B-107.3.