No. 2 UCLA women crush Rutgers for 16th straight win

LOS ANGELES — It wasn’t much of a tune-up for the showdown that looms this weekend, but there’s little the UCLA women’s basketball team can do about that these days.

Kiki Rice had 17 points and seven rebounds, and the second-ranked Bruins overwhelmed another overmatched opponent, routing Rutgers, 86-46, on Wednesday night at Pauley Pavilion for their 16th consecutive victory.

UCLA (22-1 overall, 12-0 Big Ten), which plays at No. 8 Michigan (20-3, 11-1) on Sunday, has been blowing out opponents by an average of 25-30 points. The Bruins’ last loss came on Nov. 26 against then-No. 4 Texas.

Gabriela Jaquez added 14 points. Lauren Betts had 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting in 14 minutes, her fewest of the season, for the Bruins.

The blowout was on from the opening tip. The Bruins’ defense limited the Scarlet Knights (9-14, 1-11) to two 3-pointers in the first quarter, when UCLA led 26-6 after running off 16 straight points.

Rutgers managed to outscore the Bruins 14-13 in the second but still trailed 40-19 at halftime.

UCLA dominated the third, outscoring the Scarlet Knights 28-8 for a 68-27 lead while holding them to just three baskets, including back-to-back 3-pointers by Lauryn Swann. Betts scored seven of their first 12 points in the quarter before sitting down for good.

There was a Betts on the floor in the fourth: Lauren’s younger sister, Sienna. She scored nine of her 11 points in the period.

Lena Bilic’s 3-pointer gave UCLA its largest lead (43 points) in the fourth.

Swann led Rutgers with 14 points. The Scarlet Knights committed 18 turnovers that led to 25 points for the Bruins. UCLA controlled the boards 41-18 and owned a 44-14 scoring advantage in the paint.

UP NEXT

UCLA visits No. 8 Michigan on Sunday at noon PT in a showdown between the Big Ten’s top two teams.