#2 UCLA Cruises Past #8 Iowa, 88-65, as Dugalic Puts on a Show
Dugalić finished with a career-high tying 22 points including three three-pointers.
This afternoon, the #2 UCLA women’s basketball team cruised past the #8 Iowa Hawkeyes at Pauley Pavilion, 88-65. While the Bruins didn’t quite go buzzer to buzzer today, this was a very good win against a very good Iowa team.
Charlisse Leger-Walker scored the first basket of the game to put the Bruins up, 2-0, but Chit-Chat Wright responded with a three to give Iowa the lead. On Iowa’s next possession, Hannah Stuelke increased Iowa’s lead to three.
Lauren Betts and Angela Dugalić scored the next six points as the Bruins took the lead for good, 8-5.
That’s not to say it was especially easy. Stuelke cut the Bruin lead to two with 4:29 left in the first quarter and, when the quarter came to an end, UCLA had a 17-13 lead.
The closest Iowa came to tying the game in the second quarter came when Dugalić fouled Stuelke with 8:39 to go. Stuelke made her first free throw, cutting the Bruins’ lead to three, 17-14. UCLA responded with their second 6-0 run of the game. This time, it was Leger-Walker sandwiching a Kiki Rice fast break, giving the Bruins a 23-14 lead.
With 5:10 left in the half, Gabriela Jaquez gave the Bruins their first double-digit lead of the game, 29-18. Rice expanded it to 13 points on UCLA’s next possession. When Wright cut UCLA’s lead back to ten with a three, Dugalić responded by adding the first of the three treys she hit in this game. That gave her ten points for the first half, and she wasn’t done yet.
The shot of the half, though, came with the clock running down. Gianna Kneepkens nailed a three from the corner with just a second left and the Bruins took a 39-28 lead into the locker room at the break.
UCLA began the second half with buckets from Rice and Lauren Betts that increased the lead to 15, 43-28. With 6:29 left in the quarter and the Bruins up, 49-38, Betts began an 11-point run for the Bruins that stretched their lead to 22 points. Dugalić finished the third quarter scoring for the Bruins with her third basket of the quarter, giving her 16 for the game, and UCLA was now up by 17, 62-45.
When the fourth quarter began, Jaquez scored UCLA’s first four points of the quarter. No one knew it yet, but Jaquez’ second free throw with 8:07 left would prove to be the game-winner and UCLA led by 18, 66-48. Iowa was able to trim the Bruins lead to 13 with 7:07 to go.
That was as close as the Hawkeyes would get in this game, though. A three from Rice, a layup by Kneepkens followed by a three from her, pushed UCLA’s lead back to 21. When Stuelke and Ava Heiden were able to reduce the lead back down to 17, Dugalić answered with her second three of the game.
It was the start of a 12-2 run by the Bruins and it was capped by Dugalić’s third three-pointer of game and the Bruins now led by 27, 86-59. That shot gave Dugalić 22 points for the game, tying her career high.
Lauren Betts would go on to add a jumper with 36 seconds left and the Bruins had beaten the #8 team in the country by 23.
Besides Dugalić, four other Bruins finished in double figures. Rice scored 17 and Betts added 16. Leger-Walker and Kneepkens each finished with 10 points.
After the game, Betts was asked about how she’s feeling after taking a fall in practice on Friday which landed her as questionable for today’s game. She put everyone at ease, responding with a matter-of-fact “I’m fine.” in the post game press conference.
The Bruins’ will host Rutgers next at Pauley on Wednesday before heading on the road for what will be a tough road trip against Michigan and Michigan State.
Wednesday’s game will tip-off at 7 pm PT and be streamed on B1G+. So, you may have to show up at Pauley if you want to catch this one before the team heads out on the road.
Go Bruins!!!
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My random thoughts/player assessments:
1. Rice: solid game, good pressure D, posted up smaller defender, got to the rim, hit a side step 3, just all around strong game
2. CLW: much better than last game, got to the rim more, still a step slow on D at times and continues the infuriating habit of 2-3 inexplicable turnovers per game, she also had 2 very bad passes to bigs that I counted but overall solid
3. Kneepkens: word is out on not leaving her open from three, need more designed plays, she did a good job pump faking and going to the hole, good pressure D, good rebounding, good all around game
4. L Betts: I’m not sure her foul trouble was all her v questionable calls, I think she is fine to shoot mid range jumpers but would have liked to see them pound it closer to the rim early in the game first, I liked her fight against Heiden in Q3, showed grit. She’s still a top 2 pick in the draft
5. Jaquez: good game of craftiness, getting to the rim and playing solid perimeter D. I blame the coaches for starting her on Stuelke, that was a criminally bad idea as GJ is too light to guard strong 3/4s. Dugalic replaced her and it was a much better look. Also, I think GJ’s 3 pointer is broken, I wouldn’t trust it in a tight game
6. Dugalic: She was balling, all around on D guarding every position including Stuelke who is a handful, abusing their post players with crafty and strong moves, hitting her threes and having fun, loved her game, she gets game ball
7. S Betts: Love that she is getting so much PT. Plays strong down low, had a couple good post moves. I am genuinely surprised by her lack of athleticism, she does not get off the ground (taps the ball to herself instead of jumping for rebounds, flips the ball in the basket instead of exploding toward the rim) and I’m not sure this is going to change over her career.
8. Everybody else: I like Bilic as she has length and could be an offensive threat but 3 is also broken since the beginning of the year and she has to play D without fouling; I continue to be confused by Muse, she seems like a lovely person but not a positive on the court at all, she was a McDonald’s All American and this is her 3rd year in the program. I couldn’t tell for sure but I don’t think Karamouzi dressed for this one. Is Gardiner looking slimmer/trimmer? She might be the best player on the team next year.