This post was updated Nov. 27 at 11:42 p.m.
It was like Thanksgiving without the turkey.
Lauren Betts – a First Team All-American last season and the Bruins’ second leading scorer this season – was out of Thursday’s action after sustaining an elbow injury Wednesday.
No. 3 UCLA women’s basketball (7-1) made do with mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie – defeating Duke (4-2) 89-59 in Thursday’s Players Era Women’s Championship third-place game – but the gravy certainly had its lumps.
“This was all about response and their (the Bruins’) ownership,” coach Cori Close said. “They learned the power of their own choice. They had a players-only meeting. … This was about us responding to … be the best version of ourselves.”
After falling 76-65 to eventual tournament-champion No. 4 Texas Wednesday for its first loss of the season, UCLA rebounded with a hot start against Duke – leading 30-7 after the first quarter.
However, the Bruins’ luck in Las Vegas’ Michelob ULTRA Arena turned in the second.
UCLA didn’t score a field goal until just 3:14 remained in the quarter – allowing Duke to go on a 14-2 run in the meantime. After turning the ball over twice in Thursday’s first frame, the Bruins gave it up over six times in the second quarter – five coming within the first five minutes.
Still, it was hardly all doom and gloom as UCLA held onto a 43-25 lead going into halftime. And the Bruins played their cards right the rest of the night – even without their typical ace.
“It wasn’t always perfect,” Close said. “There’s still things we need to clean up. … But they grabbed and earned confidence and toughness today.”
Close added that she tried to get Betts cleared to play Thursday, but took the advice of the Bruins’ medical staff to sit her. The coach said she could not provide a time table for the center’s return but that more tests would be done when the team returns to Westwood.
In Betts’ absence, coach Cori Close deployed four guards and a forward.
The quartet of guards – seniors Kiki Rice and Gabriela Jaquez plus graduate students Charlisse Leger-Walker and Gianna Kneepkens – all reached double digits by the midpoint of the third quarter.
Leger-Walker finished with 20 points, only trailing Jaquez’s 23 – the latter’s highest total since March 7.
“We just wanted to come out better,” Jaquez said. “Come out the gates ready to play and bring up the intensity and the aggression.”
And even without their six-foot-seven defensive stalwart – or any center at all – UCLA kept the Duke attack at bay, with its offense essentially limited to guard Ashlon Jackson and forward Toby Fournier.
Jackson shot 4-for-9 from deep – sinking all but two of Duke’s 3-pointers – and finished with 18 points on 5-for-15 shooting. Fournier finished right behind her with 17 points, but her contributions almost exclusively came from the paint, as she made seven of her 14 shots from the field and none from deep.
Duke was limited to a 33.8% success rate from the field – its worst since its season opener Nov. 3 – and 6-for-22 shooting on 3-point attempts.
On the other end, the Bruins posted their best efficiency from beyond the arc this season – sinking 13-of-22 3-point shots. UCLA’s previous best came against then No. 6 Oklahoma on Nov. 10 when it made 8-of-22.
“Obviously, we wish Lauren could be playing with us,” Rice said. “But when she’s out, coach Cori always says, ‘Next woman up,” and so we’re always ready.”
Leger-Walker led the way making five of her nine shots from deep – her most made 3-pointers since Jan. 5, 2024.
Kneepkens beat her in efficiency, though, with all three of her shots from beyond the arc finding the net.
“Coming out of the Final Four, one of our pain points and learning things was that we stared at Lauren a whole lot last year, and we needed to have other people,” Close said. “How can we get them all confident and anticipatory about how they can impact winning on both sides of the ball? That’s the balance … we’re shooting for.”
The Bruins also managed to clean up the turnovers, finishing with 12 by the end of the night after surrendering the ball 20 times against the Longhorns.
Rice and Leger-Walker – who each had three turnovers by the half – had just one combined in the last two frames.
UCLA’s only lapse out of the half seemed to come in the rebound battle. After the Bruins grabbed 27 boards to the Blue Devils’ 18 in the first two quarters, Duke kept it close in the final two, coming down with 15 rebounds to UCLA’s 16.
As the clock wound down in Vegas, Close deployed senior guard/forward Megan Grant with 1:48 remaining in the affair – and the two-time softball All-American’s appearance signaled the rest of UCLA’s night would be easy as pumpkin pie.
