Lauren Betts was the focal point of the moment UCLA needed most: a timeout, a reset, and a sudden 15-point surge that flipped a shaky opening into a 78-60 win over Washington at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, pushing the Bruins’ win streak to 23 games.
How did a season-low first quarter turn into a tournament statement?
With 6: 26 left in the second quarter, UCLA found itself in a position it “rarely has been in Big Ten play. ” The Bruins had opened with two turnovers and a miss, then endured a drought of more than five minutes in the first quarter while missing five straight shots. The result was a season-low six points in the opening quarter, a total that matched UCLA’s turnovers in that period.
Washington pressed the advantage and extended its lead to 10 in the second quarter. Then UCLA coach Cori Close called a timeout. Out of that stoppage, UCLA ran a play designed to get the ball into the paint to Lauren Betts, and the possession became a pivot point. UCLA scored the next 15 points and went into halftime with a lead, while Washington was held to two points over the final 6½ minutes of the half.
Close was blunt about the opening: “Coaches and players have to take responsibility that here we are in March, and we came out with less than our best focus and effort, ” Close said, adding, “That’s something we got to take care of right away. ”
What did Lauren Betts and Kiki Rice reveal about UCLA’s margins for error?
UCLA’s response was not built on early three-point shooting. The Bruins, described as having the best three-point percentage in the Big Ten, did not make a three-pointer in the first half and did not hit one until Kiki Rice connected at the 5: 27 mark of the third quarter. Even after the comeback took shape, UCLA still tied its worst three-point shooting performance of the season at one-for-10.
Instead, the decisive stretches were driven by interior scoring, pace shifts, and efficiency. Betts finished with 26 points on 13-for-20 shooting and added eight rebounds. Betts described her approach as situational and urgent: “I knew I wanted to win this game, and I was going to do whatever the team needed, ” Betts said. She also pointed to the defensive coverage she saw: “Today they were playing me with single coverage for most of the game, so that worked in my benefit and I just took advantage of it and was aggressive for the entire game. ”
Rice added 18 points and six assists, joining Betts as a catalyst once UCLA found rhythm after its slow start. UCLA shot 54% overall from the field, a number that underscored how thoroughly the Bruins solved Washington after the early stumble.
Even within a double-digit win, UCLA’s internal critique remained sharp. “They were the more aggressive team, ” Close said of the opening quarter. “They played harder than us in the first quarter and put us on our heels. … It wasn’t our best. ” UCLA guard Gabriela Jaquez echoed the emphasis on detail: “We know the little things are going to matter, ” Jaquez said. “We’ve been working on that. ”
What happens next after UCLA’s 23rd straight win?
The victory advanced top-seeded UCLA to the Big Ten tournament semifinals, where the Bruins are set to face Ohio State at 11 a. m. PST on Saturday. UCLA improved to 19-0 in Big Ten action, and the team has been unbeaten for more than three months since its only loss on Nov. 26 against Texas.
Washington, which entered the quarterfinal as the eighth seed, fell to 21-10 overall and 11-9 in the Big Ten. The Huskies had advanced by defeating No. 9 seed USC on Thursday. Against UCLA, Washington briefly went up in the third quarter, powered by guard Avery Howell, who scored 18 points, but the Huskies struggled to respond to UCLA’s second-half surge and trailed by as many as 19 in the fourth quarter.
UCLA’s broader season profile hovered over the game even as the Bruins wrestled with a sluggish start. The Bruins’ average margin of victory stands at 28. 3 points, listed as the fifth-best in the nation, and the team has played only a handful of competitive conference games. The closest contests cited were a 69-66 win over Michigan and an 82-75 victory at Ohio State in December.
Friday’s quarterfinal showed both sides of a contender’s reality at tournament time: an uncharacteristic early quarter that demanded correction, and a response decisive enough to turn a 10-point deficit into another lopsided final. In that swing, Lauren Betts remained the most direct lever UCLA could pull when the game threatened to tilt away.
