Lauren Betts 22 points and 12 rebounds leads UCLA past Cal Baptist 96-43
UCLA Bruins #51 Lauren Betts (C) is posting up in the paint while being guarded by California Baptist Lancers #33 Grace Schmidt (F) at Pauley Pavilion in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1 March 21, 2026.
WESTWOOD, CA -After a slow start and only leading by ten points at halftime, 44-34, the #1 seed UCLA Bruins (32-1) came out in the second half and clamped down on defense, allowing just nine points in the second half, and routed the #16 seed California Baptist Lancers (23-11) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Pauley Pavilion 96-43.
Despite coming out of the gate slowly, the Bruins made 35 of their 70 shots for 50%, compared to the Lancers making 16 of their 64 shots for 25%.
“We just went for it, and that’s not an easy thing to do on the road in the NCAA tournament," Lancers coach Jarrod Olson said. “In the 20 minutes we showed we can belong.”
“It was unacceptable,” UCLA coach Cori Close said. “It's not the fact that we missed shots. It's when we don't execute the scouting report, when we are lackadaisical, when we don't communicate, when we're not connected. Those are the controllable things that we made a commitment to each other that we would deliver on. We let each other down in the first half on that.”
Lauren Betts led the Bruins in scoring with 22 points and 10 rebounds, Kiki Rice had 18 points, Gabriela Jaquez had 16 points, Sienna Betts had 10 points and 12 rebounds in the first game of her career in the NCAA Tournament, and Angela Dugalic had 10 points and 11 rebounds.
California Baptist Lancers #10 Chance Bucher (G) is driving toward the basket while being defended by the UCLA Bruins #5 Charlisse Leger-Walker at Pauley Pavilion in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1 March 21, 2026.
Cal Baptist was just too undersized, being out-rebounded 62 to 21 and outscored 62 to 21 in second-chance points in favor of UCLA; it was just too much for the Lancers to overcome.
The Lancers led in the first quarter 7-4 with a three-pointer by Filipa Barros. Charlisse Leger-Walker would tie the game 9-9 with her three-point shot. The Bruins would go up by seven points, 19-12, with a layup by Lauren Betts. UCLA led at the end of the first quarter, 23-15.
You could tell that the Bruins’ head coach, Cori Close, was not happy with how they started the game, and came out sluggish on offense.
UCLA Bruins #1 Kiki Rice (G) is going around a screen set by her teammate #51 Lauren Betts (C) on California Baptist Lancers # 5 Filipa Barros (G) at Pauley Pavilion in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1 March 21, 2026.
UCLA led 27-15 in the second quarter with a jump shot by Lauren Betts. The Lancers would go on a 6-0 run to trail 27-21, capped off with a jump shot by Chance Bucher. With 3:01 left before halftime, Sienna Betts would make a layup to give the Bruins an eight-point lead, 36-28.
The Bruins led at halftime by ten points, 44-34, after two free throws by Kiki Rice. Lauren Betts led UCLA scoring in the first half with 14 points, and Jaquez with 8 points. Bucher led Cal Baptist in scoring with 11 points, followed by Emma Johansson and Barros each with 7 points.
The second half was no contest as UCLA scored 52 points in the second half to advance to the second round and will host the #8 seed Oklahoma State Cowgirls on Monday Night at 7 pm, who earlier beat the #9 seed Princeton Tigers 82-68.