2024 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament Preview, How to Watch and Game Thread: #2 Seed UCLA Bruins vs. #7 Seed Creighton Blue Jays

Mar 25

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)
Series Record: UCLA leads, 2-0
When: 5:30 pm PT, Monday, March 25, 2024
Where: Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA
TV: ESPN2 with Kevin Fitzgerald and Kim Adams
Live Stream: WatchESPN and the ESPN App
Radio/Audio
Online: uclabruins.com with Dave Marcus
Game Previews:
UCLA
Creighton

Go Bruins!!!

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