How To Watch, Game Preview and Game Thread: #2 UCLA Bruins vs. Wisconsin Badgers
It's Senior Day at Pauley Pavilion!
This afternoon, the UCLA women’s basketball team will play their final regular season home game at Pauley Pavilion. As a result, Lauren Betts, Kiki Rice, Charlisse Leger-Walker, Gabriela Jaquez, Gianna Kneepkens, and Angela Dugalić will all be honored in pregame ceremonies.
While UCLA clinched the top seed in the Big Ten Tournament with Thursday’s win over Indiana, the Bruins are looking for a win the conference regular season title outright.
Today’s game against Wisconsin will tip-off at 2:30 pm PT and will be broadcast on NBC Sports Network (where available) and streamed on PeacockTV.com with Ann Schatz and Aja Ellison calling today’s game.
Last Time Out
On Thursday night, Washington got the first basket of the game, but UCLA followed with a bucket by Lauren Betts and a pair of free throws by Kiki Rice. Betts followed with a jumper, giving UCLA a 6-2 lead. At that point, the game was effectively over.
To be sure, the Huskies were to cut UCLA’s lead to three on a Sayvia Sellers three-pointer with 2:42 to go in the first quarter, but that’s as close as Washington would get. The Bruins concluded the quarter with a 7-0 run and they led 22-12 heading into the second quarter.
Lauren Betts began the second quarter with a pair of baskets to stretch the run to 11-0, though the second quarter was much closer than the first. UCLA only outscored Washington by three in the second quarter, 20-17, and the Bruins led 42-29 at the break.
The second half was closer than the first. The Bruins only outscored the Huskies by two in the third quarter, 21-19. Despite the overall closeness in the quarter, UCLA’s lead was never less than 12 points, and when it was done, the Bruins were up by 15, 63-48.
The shot which proved to be the game-winner came from Gabriela Jaquez with 8:31 to go in the game. It gave UCLA a 68-48 lead at the time. While the Huskies matched the Bruins in scoring during the final frame, Washington wasn’t able to ever generate a significant run in the final quarter. UCLA’s lead was never smaller than 14 points. When the quarter was over, the Bruins had an 82-67 win and they had clinched a share of the Big Ten regular season title along with the top seed in the conference tournament.
Wisconsin Badgers Starting Five
It’s been a disappointing first season for the Badgers under Robin Pingeton. After starting the year 11-4 overall and 3-2 in the Big Ten, the Badgers have gone 2-10 over their last twelve games. Wisconsin has also lost seven straight including a 66-59 loss to Southern Cal on Thursday at the Galen Center.
Pingeton will probably start a lineup with four guards and a forward, based on who started against Southern Cal. At the same time, Pingeton may opt to change the starters up a little in order to match up better against the height of the Bruins.
Two of the guards pretty much guaranteed to start the game on the floor are grad transfer Destiny Howell and junior transfer Kyrah Daniels. That’s because Howell and Daniels are the only two Badgers averaging in double figures. Howell leads the team with an average of 14.2 ppg and Daniels is second with an average of 12.8 ppg. Daniels is also second on the team in rebounds with an average of 4.9 rpg and in assists with 66. While Daniels has taken more threes than anyone else on the team, Howell’s 41.3% three-point percentage is the best on the team.
The third and fourth starting guards will probably be Ronnie Porter and Laci Steele. Both of these players are averaging about the same when it comes to scoring. Porter’s averaging 6.4 ppg while Steele is averaging 6.3 ppg. What makes Porter stand out, though, is the fact that she is the team leader in assists with 131, which is more than Daniels and Shay Bollin, who’s third in assists with 37, combined. So, on one hand, Steele might begin the game on the bench in favor of 6’3” center Dorja Zaja, but on the other hand, the fact that Steele is 5’11” tall could mean that she starts over the 5’2” Porter in an attempt to counter UCLA’s height advantage. While Zaja has only averaged 4.8 ppg, she is second on the team in blocks with 24.
The final starter will be senior forward Gift Uchenna. Uchenna averages 8.6 ppg and leads the Badgers with 7.0 rpg. She also leads the team in blocks with 40.
Analysis
Frankly, given how the Badgers have fared over their past twelve games, there’s little to suggest that this game won’t be over in the first few minutes.
Watch and Listen to the Game With TMB
Today’s game will be broadcast on NBC Sports Network (where available) and streamed on PeacockTV.com with Ann Schatz and Aja Ellison calling the game. Of course, you can opt to listen to Dave Marcus with the audio call which will be streamed on uclabruins.com. To watch or listen online, just right-click on the links so that you can open up another tab and have it going while you chat in the comments below.
This is your #2 UCLA women’s basketball vs. the Wisconsin Badgers game thread. Here’s how to watch, listen and stream today’s game:
#2 UCLA Women’s Basketball (26-1, 16-0)
Opponent: Wisconsin Badgers (13-14, 5-11)
Series Record: UCLA leads, 2-0.
When: 2:30 pm PT, Sunday, February 22, 2026
Where: Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA
TV: NBC Sports Network (where available) with Ann Schatz and Aja Ellison
Live Stream: PeacockTV.com and the Peacock app
Radio/Audio
Satellite Radio: SiriusXM Ch. 83 (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.
Bruins win by 20 but it was a little sloppy.
Bruins stuck on 16. Not sure if it's fatigue or loss of focus but it's been happening more lately.