UCLA women’s basketball coach Corey Close couldn’t have imagined a better way for her team to end non-conference play than in a game Saturday afternoon. 106-44 defeat Long Beach State at Pauley Pavilion.
After Tuesday’s 115-28 victory over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo — UCLA’s largest margin of victory during the NCAA era — the Bruins picked up where they left off, leading wire-to-wire for their fifth straight win since suffering their only loss to Texas on Nov. 26.
“We’re growing,” Close said. “We had some lapses today and we’re not there yet, but we’re moving in the right direction.” “I love the selflessness of this team.”
Senior guard Gabriella Jaquez led the way with 17 points and hit five of six three-pointers. Angela Dugalic added 13 points, while Gianna Nipkins scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. All 11 Bruins who played scored at least one basket.
UCLA forward Sienna Pitts, top, and Long Beach State forward Keenan Ka dive for the ball during the Bruins’ win on Saturday.
(Jesse Alche/Associated Press)
The Bruins play their final game in Westwood until January 3, when they host crosstown rival USC, (11-1 overall, 1-0 in the Big Ten) as the No. 4 team in the country, improving to 6-0 at home. They are ranked fourth in the Associated Press and coaches’ polls behind Connecticut, Texas and South Carolina.
Jaquez scored nine of the Bruins’ first 12 points. She opened the scoring with a 3-pointer from the top of the key and added threes on consecutive possessions to increase the margin to eight points. Her fourth 3-pointer from the right corner increased the lead to 21-5.
Sienna Bates’ jumper in the lane put UCLA up by 19 at the end of the first quarter. The sophomore finished with 14 points and Lauren Bates added 17 points. The sisters’ parents, Michelle and Andy, played volleyball and basketball, respectively, at Long Beach State. Sienna wears her mother’s number 16 while Lauren wears her father’s number 51.
Kiki Rice’s steal and layup made it 46-18 with 3:28 remaining in the first half, and Charles Leger-Walker’s tip-in at the buzzer gave the Bruins a 34-point halftime lead. Rice had a complete game, contributing 15 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, four steals and one block.
The result continued the Bruins’ recent dominance on the beach. UCLA has won six head-to-head meetings, including a 51-point win in the schools’ previous matchup last December, when Close became the winningest coach ever in program history by notching her 297th win to move past Billy Moore (296-181). Long Beach State has not beaten the Bruins since 1987 under Joan Bonvicini, who posted a 16-1 record versus UCLA in her 12 seasons at the Beach from 1979-91.
The Bruins’ primary focus on defense was slowing down sophomore guard JaQuoia Jones-Brown, who entered Saturday averaging 17.2 points per game. It scored 10 of Beach’s 11 points in the first quarter but was held scoreless the rest of the way. She scored in double figures in nine of her 10 games. Guard Christy Reynoso added six points for the Beach (0-10 overall, 0-2 in the Big West).
The Bruins travel to Columbus on Dec. 28 to take on No. 21 Ohio State (9-1).