How To Watch, Game Preview and Game Thread: #3 UCLA Bruins vs. #12/11 Maryland Terrapins
The Bruins will face their highest-ranked opponent since they played Texas before Thanksgiving.
After sweeping last week’s road trip, the UCLA women’s basketball team returns home today for a game against the #12/11 Maryland Terrapins at Pauley Pavilion. Tip-off is set for 1 pm PT and the game will be broadcast on NBC.
Today’s game will be the Bruins’ fourth game out of their last six against a Top 25 team. The Terps will be the highest ranked team UCLA has played since their loss to Texas in November.
Last Time Out
On Wednesday, UCLA visited Minnesota and the Bruins defeated the Golden Gophers, 76-58, in front of 4,374 fans.
The Bruins actually fell behind 5-0 early in the game. Lauren Betts cut the Gopher lead to 5-2 with UCLA’s first basket of the game. Following a jumper by Minnesota’s Amaya Battle, the Bruins went on a 15-2 run to end the first quarter and UCLA led 17-9 after the first quarter.
With 7:33 to go in the half, the Bruins had doubled up the Gophers, 22-11. While Minnesota would cut the lead to six with 6:14 to go, that was as close as they would get before the break, and the half ended with UCLA ahead by ten, 34-24.
Things didn’t get any better for Minnesota in the second half. UCLA would stretch their lead to as many as 15 with 4:37 to go in the third quarter and the Bruins led by 12, 51-39, as the third quarter came to a close.
The Bruins finished the game strong in the fourth quarter as the Bruins took their biggest lead of the game when Gabriela Jaquez put them up by 18 with 21 seconds left. That made it 76-58 and that’s how this one ended.
It was a very happy birthday for Kiki Rice, who led the Bruins in this game with 25 points, while Lauren Betts added 17 to go with ten rebounds for her third double-double in a row and seventh of the season. Jaquez also finished in double figures with 12 points.
Meanwhile, Maryland is coming off a 62-55 win against Southern Cal on Thursday. In that game, Addi Mack led Maryland with 12 points. Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu had ten points and nine rebounds while Yarden Garzon added ten points as well.
Brenda Frese is in in her 24th season as the head coach of the Terps, and she’s had quite the run at Maryland. They won an NCAA title in 2005-06 and, since that season, they have finished with fewer than ten losses every year except two. So, Frese can coach.
Against Southern Cal, Frese started a lineup that featured four guards and a forward, which has been the case in all eight games since the Terps’ double overtime win against Minnesota.
Maryland Terrapins’ Starting Five
In fact, Frese has started the same lineup since conference play resumed against Wisconsin at the end of December.
The Terps are led by junior guard Oluchi Okananwa. She leads Maryland with an average of 16.8 ppg, though she only scored seven against the Trojans on Thursday. She also leads the team in steals with 39 and third in rebounds with an average of 5.3 rpg. Her 52.4% shooting percentage makes her one of two starters shooting better than 50% from the field.
Senior transfer Yarden Garzon is second on the Terps in scoring with an average of 13.2 ppg. She came to Maryland this year after playing three seasons at Indiana. She is the Terrapins’ biggest three-point threat. She’s taken more three-point attempts than her next two teammates combined, and her 41.0% three-point percentage is the best on the team for anyone who’s tried more than seven shots from long-range. She also leads the team in assists with 61.
True freshman Addi Mack is averaging 10.8 ppg and her 46.2% shooting percentage is third amongst the starters. UCLA will want to keep her off the charity stripe because her 89.4% free throw percentage is best on the team for anyone with more than 25 free throw attempts.
The Terps’ fourth starting guard may have one of the most fun names in the country. That’s redshirt senior Saylor Poffenbarger. If you say her name a few times, I think you’ll agree. Seriously, though, Poffenbarger is averaging 10.4 ppg and she is second on the team in both assists with 56 and rebounds with an average of 5.8 rpg. As if that’s not enough, she’s second among the starters in three-point percentage with 38.2% on 76 three-point attempts.
The final starter for Maryland will be forward Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu. She leads the team in rebounding with an average of 6.8 rpg and in blocks with 21. She’s sixth in scoring with an average of 8.4 ppg. The Bruins won’t have to worry about her beyond the arc, though, because she hasn’t tried a three-pointer yet this season.
Analysis
It’s nice to see today’s game will be on NBC, even if the game will be up against the Texans-Patriots playoff game. This game may be UCLA’s toughest one since they played Texas before Thanksgiving.
While the Terrapins only beat the Trojans by seven on Thursday, I expect the team will have adjusted to the travel and the time difference by this afternoon.
But the fact remains that UCLA is outperforming or tied with Maryland in all but three statistical categories. So, while this could end up being a tighter game, I still expect the Bruins to come out of this one with a double-digit win at home.
#3 UCLA Women’s Basketball (16-1, 6-0)
Opponent: #12/11 Maryland Terrapins (17-2, 5-2)
Series Record: UCLA trails, 4-5.
When: 1:00 pm PT, Sunday, January 18, 2026
Where: Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA
TV: NBC with Sloane Martin, Kim Adams and Cayleigh Griffin
Live Stream: PeacockTV.com and the Peacock app
Radio/Audio
Satellite Radio: SiriusXM Ch. 84 (UCLA Call)
Online: uclabruins.com with Dave Marcus
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast
Game Notes:
UCLA
Go Bruins!!!
Thanks again for supporting The Mighty Bruin. Your paid subscriptions make this site possible. Questions, comments, story ideas, angry missives and more can be sent to @TheMightyBruin on Twitter.
I don't know what it says about a Top 15 matchup that the fans are doing the wave, but it's probably not a great sign for Maryland.
We're both at the game today so I'm saving my game thoughts for the postgame thread, but I will say these media seats for regular games are not nearly as nice as the setup for the NCAA Tournament. Still, it is nice to get a full-court center view.