UCLA may be have to play Creighton tonight without center Lauren Betts who missed the game against Cal Baptist with an unspecified injury. (Photo Credit: Jenny Xu/uclabruins.com)
This evening, the UCLA Bruins women’s basketball team will host the Creighton Blue Jays in a second round game of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. Tip-off for tonight’s game is at 5:30 pm and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
Admittedly, I didn’t follow the women’s basketball team as closely through the season as I might have if we still had a large enough staff to cover more than just football and men’s hoops. Sure, I’d check in to make sure they were winning and I watched at least portions of a few games.
But I’m sitting in a line at Pechanga Arena in San Diego because I have General Admission floor tickets for my 46th Springsteen concert tonight and I’ve got some time to burn. So, I figured I’d grab today’s pre-game article.
Tonight, the Bruins will host a Creighton team which is seeded seventh in the Albany 2 region. So, today’s game will likely be tougher than Saturday’s game against Cal Baptist.
That’s why the Bruins really could need Lauren Betts to return from the unspecified injury which kept her out of the game against the Lancers. She just produces so much for this team that not having her available really levels the playing field between these teams.
Not only is Betts the team’s leading scorer with an average of 14.7 ppg, she also leads UCLA in rebounds with an average of 9.0 per game. That’s the kind of production you can’t get from a non-starter if she cannot play tonight.
That’s not taking away anything from any of the Bruin starters. It’s just a matter of fact that no bench player can make up for that kind of production. Sure, some of the other starters will obviously make up the slack, but when you’re missing a player like Betts, you’re going to feel it somehow.
Creighton Starting Five
Creighton head coach Jim Flanery has started the same five players all seniors, for all 31 games the Blue Jays have played this season. So, it’s a pretty fair assumption that he will start the same five against UCLA unless one of his starters was hurt on Saturday against UNLV, and since those starters are all seniors, they all have plenty of experience.
Among those five starters, there are three primary threats for the Jays.
Starting guard Lauren Jensen leads Creighton in scoring with 17.4 ppg and is second on the team in assists with 3.1 per game. Forward Emma Ronsiek is second on the team in scoring with 16.8 ppg and third in rebounds with an average of 5.4 per game. The third biggest threat is guard/forward Morgan Maly who averages 15.1 ppg and she also leads the Jays in rebounds with an average of 6.7 per game.
Guard Molly Mogensen leads Creighton in assists with an average of 4.2 per game, but she only averages 7.8 ppg while forward Mallory Brake leads the team in rebounds with 5.5 per game but only averages 5.0 ppg.
Analysis
If the Bruins can shut down at least one of the three best players for Creighton, it will go a long way towards a Bruin victory. If I had to pick one player to target, it would probably be Ronsiek because she is a scoring and rebounding threat.
But the reality is that if they can hold any of the three Jays averaging in double figures to just single digits, the Bruins should advance to the next round.
Listen to the Game With TMB
This evening’s game will be on ESPN2 with Kevin Fitzgerald and Kim Adams calling the game. If you prefer, you can listen to UCLA’s longtime women’s basketball radio guy Dave Marcus online. Just be sure to right-click on it so that you can open up another tab and have it going while you chat in the comments below. Keep in mind that this game will not be on either terrestrial or satellite radio today. So, you can’t listen to the game there. Instead, just listen to today’s game online.
This is your UCLA women’s basketball vs. Cal Baptist Lancers game thread. Here’s how to watch, listen and stream today’s game:
2024 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Second Round
Teams: #2 seed UCLA Bruins (26-6) vs. #7 seed Creighton Blue Jays (26-5)
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U clap clap clap!
Glad to be here with you, won’t be there for the first 35-40 minutes but should be there for most of the actual game
Betts participated in warmups so hopefully that is a good sign.
Betts!!!
Need to guard the 3!
Betts again!
Playing D like the guys
Oh my we need to stop the 3!
Betts again!!!
Osborne turned it over again
We need to settle and play our game.
Creighton shooting 57% 😞
Kiki for 2 Throws!
Kiki for 3!!!
Bad foul by Rice. She should be able to play better defense.
Betts!!!
They can't stop Betts.
Betts!!! Unstoppable!
Gabs for 2 Throws!
Betts!!!!!
Rebounding is saving us!
LJ & CO need to step up
I’m here
Down 1 end 1 not awful with your guys defence comments
Gotta hold on to those boards
We can't stop them. Come on Bruins!
Bad quarter in progress
If your not making threes maybe stop taking them
Close finally calls timeout
Kiki!!!!
Osborne!!!
Betts!
Woohoo! Betts!
Need to close this lead big time.
Good look Betts
Brown!!!
REBOUND!
Make your paint shots cmon what am I watching
Gah, just got home but have been watching since the start on the phone. Creighton can't stay this hot shooting...I hope.
Gabs!!!
These calls suck
How embarrassing. Osborne has to wipe up sweat on the floor herself. Is that a NCAA or UCLA issue?
Hope we made some defensive adjustments at half. Let's go, Bruins!!
Halftime speech appears to have missed the mark.
There's a 3!
Dooga for 3!
And gave up 2
F these refs.
Betts!
Osborne has 3 and we are in trouble.
GABBY!