Lauren Betts and UCLA dominate in season-opening victory over Purdue
Lauren Betts wasn’t sure where she should sit at the postgame news conference. The rest of the night the Stanford transfer appeared right at home with her new team.
Betts scored a career-high 20 points in her UCLA debut, Londynn Jones had 20 points and the fourth-ranked Bruins routed Purdue 92-49 Monday night in a matchup of future Big Ten opponents.
“A little bit of nerves but honestly with the confidence of my coaches and my teammates that they have in me, it just makes me go out and do amazing things,” Betts said. “I had a lot of fun. This was such a great first game for me.”
The Bruins never trailed as they opened the 50th year of women’s basketball in Westwood against the alma mater of John Wooden, who guided UCLA’s men’s program to 10 of its record 11 national championships.
UCLA coach Cori Close leads a deep and talented women’s basketball roster that is pushing to live up to its No. 4 preseason ranking.
UCLA is leaving the Pac-12 next season to join the Big Ten, which suffered another defeat Monday when No. 21 USC beat No. 7 Ohio State 83-74.
“We’re not in the Big Ten yet, but we’re ready to take them down,” Bruins coach Cori Close said. “I’m cherishing the moments this last Pac-12 year.”
UCLA star Charisma Osborne was scoreless in the first half and finished with 11 points after hitting three three-pointers in the second half. But the Bruins got plenty of scoring from their other four starters.
“Charisma didn’t get going in the first half, but we had to make sure she got going in the second,” Jones said. “It doesn’t really matter who scores or who gets the credit as long as we’re working together.”
Betts, at 6-foot-7 the tallest player on the floor, transferred from Stanford, where she helped the Cardinal win the Pac-12 regular-season title. She shot nine of 11 from the field, had seven rebounds and two blocked shots.
“I bring a lot of inside presence. It really helps our shooters get open,” Betts said. “If I just rim run every time and get myself in good position, I think it gives other people great opportunities to score.”
Angela Dugalic scored 13 points for the Bruins in her return after sitting out all of last season because of a knee injury. Kiki Rice had 10 points and 10 assists.
The Boilermakers were led by Caitlyn Harper and Abbey Ellis with 10 points each.
The rout was on early, with UCLA outscoring the Boilermakers 24-8 in the first quarter.
The Bruins used identical 9-0 runs at the end of the first and second quarters to lead 42-24 at halftime. UCLA’s perimeter defense forced the Boilermakers to go four of 21 from three-point range.
UCLA had 29 assists on 35 made baskets and made 13 three-pointers.
Up next for UCLA: Hosts UC Riverside on Thursday in the second of four consecutive home games to start the season.
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