Skip to main content

Lauren Betts leads No. 4 UCLA to 80-59 rout of Oregon in Big Ten opener

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lauren Betts had season highs of 24 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks, and No. 4 UCLA routed Oregon 80-59 in the teams’ Big Ten opener Sunday, knocking the Ducks from the unbeaten ranks.

Gianna Kneepkens added 17 points for the Bruins (9-1, 1-0), who beat the Ducks for the sixth straight time while topping 80 points for the sixth time this season.

Ehis Etute had 14 points and nine rebounds off the bench and Katie Fiso added 14 points for the Ducks (10-1, 0-1). They off were to the program’s best start since 2015-16 when they opened 11-0 and were just one of four 10-0 teams nationally going into the weekend.

But UCLA had the Ducks on their heels from the opening tip. The Bruins opened the game with six straight points and had 19 rebounds while leading 19-8 and limiting the Ducks to 3 of 18 shooting.

The Bruins poured it on with a 10-2 run to open the second quarter. Betts had four points and Lena Bilic hit two 3-pointers. Bilic’s third 3-pointer pushed UCLA’s lead to 26 just before halftime, when the Bruins led 49-26.

Early in the third, the Bruins took a 27-point lead — their largest of the game — on a pair of free throws by Kiki Rice and closed the period on a 6-0 spurt for a 65-40 lead.

Etute and Fiso did almost all of the Ducks’ scoring in the fourth, when Betts scored five in a row before leaving in the closing minutes.

UCLA dominated the boards 52-29, controlled the paint 40-28, and dished out 22 assists.

Up next

Oregon: Hosts Montana State on Sunday.

UCLA: Hosts Cal Poly on Dec. 16.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball

Hawkeyes are set to play Vanderbilt in a November women’s basketball game in Sioux City, Iowa

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Vanderbilt and Iowa, both ranked in the top 10 late last season, will meet in a women's basketball game early next season in northwest Iowa, the schools announced Tuesday. The neutral-site game is set for Nov. 15 at the Tyson Events Center, which is 290 miles from Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. Vanderbilt is 4-0 all-time against the Hawkeyes. This will be the teams' first meeting since 1997. The Commodores are expected to return national scoring leader Mikayla Blakes. She averaged 27 points per game and was Southeastern Conference player of the year. Vanderbilt was ranked as high as No. 5 and finished No. 10 with a 29-5 record after reaching the NCAA Sweet 16.
Read Next Story