This post was updated Feb. 27 at 11:59 p.m.
Lauren Betts has finished more games with a double-double this season than without.
And the Bruins’ final road match of their inaugural Big Ten season was no different than her norm.
No. 2 UCLA women’s basketball (28-1, 16-1 Big Ten) rounded out its final away match of the regular season with a 91-61 win over Wisconsin (13-15, 4-13) on Wednesday night at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin. The game marks the Bruins’ second to last match of the season, and their final game before playing a match at Pauley Pavilion against the Trojans – who handed them their only loss of the season.
“I really challenged our team to play with more purpose and tempo,” said coach Cori Close. “We sort of had gotten into a rut of going through the motions of our offense instead of making every play a scoring play, and I think that was a big piece of what Lauren did so well.”
Scoring half of the Bruins’ 22 points in the first quarter, junior center Lauren Betts went 5-for-6 in the paint to give UCLA a double-digit lead after a slow start. By the end of the first half, she neared a double-double with 20 points and eight rebounds. By the third quarter, her 15th double-double of 25 games played was secured.
The score remained within a single-digit margin for the first half of the initial frame as junior guard Kiki Rice, freshman guard Elina Aarnisalo and graduate student forward Angela Dugalić did not score a single point for the Bruins in the first quarter, despite Rice and Dugalić starting the match.
“We need to get more people hungry to get on the glass,” Close said. “It’s not a speed thing. It’s not a height thing for Gabs (junior forward Gabriela Jaquez). It’s a heart thing, and it’s a relentless commitment to get us extra possessions.”
But a 10-2 run by the Bruins led by Betts – who contributed six of those points – sent UCLA running away with a lead it would hold for the rest of the game.
Rice had better luck finding the basket in the second quarter, contributing five points to UCLA’s total 23. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Wisconsin’s forward Alie Bisballe and guard Lily Krahn put the Badgers 10 points within the Bruins in the second quarter.
However, Aarnisalo and freshman forward Zania Socka-Nguemen’s first field goals of the day ended Wisconsin’s short run toward a comeback. Socka-Nguemen’s eight points marked her first points since UCLA’s Jan. 23 match against Rutgers.
“I don’t think anyone knows the amount of work that she puts in,” Betts said. “She just continuously is that selfless teammate that everybody wants, and she just puts in the work regardless of what position she’s in. And I just think that she’s ready no matter what. … She had her moment, and she took advantage of it.”
Junior guard Londynn Jones and Dugalić took on some of the workload from Betts in the third quarter, with the latter hitting two consecutive 3-pointers within the first four minutes. Meanwhile, Jones – UCLA’s three-point shooting leader – went 2-for-3 on the line after only making one 3-point shot in each of the Bruins’ last four games.
The Bruins’ 10 total 3-point shots marked their third time this season hitting double-digits from beyond the arc. Junior forward Timea Gardiner led the team in 3-point shots with 4-for-6, while Jones went 3-for-8 throughout the match. Dugalić contributed an additional two 3-pointers.
“We really challenged our guards to get downhill more and to collapse the defense off the bounce,” Close said. “A couple of those 3-pointers came off that ability for the guards, especially Elina and Kiki. … Something we’re going to need going into March is our guard play-making, not only for themselves but creating for great shooters like Timea Gardiner.”
By the beginning of the fourth quarter, Betts had hit her 15th double-double of the season with 22 points and 10 rebounds. She improved her field-goal-scoring percentage to 91% after hitting another layup in the paint to kick off the final frame.
Rice’s nine total points of the night was her lowest since she scored four against Oregon on Feb. 9. But the Naismith Starting Five Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year watchlist selection still hit a driving layup to earn her 1200th career point in the final eight minutes of the game.
Socka-Nguemen and Gardiner led the Bruins with six points each in the final quarter. Gardiner has not scored a 3-pointer since UCLA’s victory against No. 22 Michigan State on Feb. 16. But the Oregon State transfer made back-to-back 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, accounting for six of her 14 total points.
“Just playing off a Lo (Betts) … she draws so many people towards her,” Gardiner said. “Also learning how to play with each other, as well as just finding the open seams and just being available and just ready to shoot it.”
Despite playing just seven minutes, Socka-Nguemen scored three layups in the same amount of minutes to set a career-high eight points and give UCLA a 30-point lead over Wisconsin to finish the game – its largest winning margin since playing Purdue on Jan. 7.
