This post was updated Jan. 5 at 10:05 p.m.
Lauren Betts – standing at 6-foot-7 – rarely has to look up at anything other than the basket while on the court.
In each of her first 12 games of the season, the sophomore center was the tallest player on the floor in every game and boasted the highest shooting percentage in the nation.
On Friday night, Betts had to look up at her defender for the first time with center Phillipina Kyei standing at 6-foot-8 for the Ducks.
But the centers’ 1-inch height difference proved to be the only thing close in the contest.
Betts maintained her dominance despite the circumstances, achieving a double-double in the first half to lead No. 2 UCLA women’s basketball (13-0, 2-0 Pac-12) to a wire-to-wire 75-49 victory over Oregon (9-6, 0-2) in Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins – who entered the contest leading the nation in rebounding margin – had their usual advantage inside, outrebounding the Ducks 46-27 and outscoring them 40-18 in the paint to continue their perfect start to the 2023-24 campaign.
Coach Cori Close said her team’s frontcourt players overcame struggles to ultimately outplay Oregon’s bigs.
“They (The frontcourt players) really were the difference in a lot of ways,” Close said. “I think they would say it was not their best night, but it was our best that beat their best.”
Oregon’s size actually appeared to bother Betts and the rest of UCLA’s offense at the beginning of the first frame.
The Bruins’ star center – who entered the contest shooting 74.1% from the field – missed her first three shots before being taken out of the contest less than five minutes into the game. And she was not alone in her shooting struggles, as the Bruins missed 14 of their first 17 shots to begin their second game in Pac-12 play.
But Oregon followed every failed shot by UCLA with a miss of its own, as the Ducks came up empty on 14 of their first 16 shots.
“We preach about defense every single practice, every single day,” said senior forward Angela Dugalić. “I think today was a good representation of how we can play defense.”
Outside of poor shooting from both sides, the Bruins dominated just about every other phase of the game from start to finish.
UCLA outrebounded Oregon 19-5 in the first quarter, including a 10-0 advantage on offensive rebounds, and attempted 10 more shots than the Ducks as a result. Despite shooting just 27.3% from the field in the opening 10 minutes, the Bruins took a 13-4 lead into the second quarter.
“The collective effort of winning the paint – it’s a good thing that we have that because we sure weren’t shooting it great,” Close said.
From there, UCLA’s offense joined the rest of the team’s statistical dominance over Oregon.
The Bruins opened the second quarter on a 9-0 run, four of them coming from Betts. Including the end of the first quarter, the home side outscored the Ducks 16-0 in less than six minutes of game time to turn a tight 6-4 lead to a 22-4 advantage with 6:12 left in the first half.
By halftime, Betts already notched her seventh double-double of the season, scoring 11 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and swatting two blocks in just 13 minutes on the floor. As a team, UCLA boasted a 28-9 rebounding advantage, including a 13-0 margin on the offensive glass, to push its lead to 37-17 after 20 minutes.
The Bruins’ lead never fell below 18 for the entire second half.
Dugalić – who began her collegiate career at Oregon – scored 11 of her career-high 17 points in the third quarter.
UCLA forced seven turnovers in the quarter to maintain its large lead and ultimately scored 28 points off of Oregon’s 20 turnovers for the game to continue its perfect start to the season.
“It may look different this game than it did the other game, but we are going to use our depth and we are going to find a way to win,” Close said. “That is truly our mentality.”
UCLA will attempt to remain undefeated against Oregon State on Sunday.
