Postgame Talk: UCLA Turns Up the Intensity to Get Past Scrappy Cal Baptist 96-43
The Bruins ratcheted up the defensive pressure to turn a close game into a comfortable opening round victory.
The question everyone had for the UCLA Bruins after their NCAA Tournament-opening victory over Cal Baptist was: “What did you talk about at halftime?”
There’s a reason for that question, of course. The UCLA Bruins, a #1 seed and a considerable favorite to make their second Final Four in as many years, was clinging to a 10-point lead at the half over a scrappy Cal Baptist Lancer squad that was refusing to roll over. The general tenor inside Pauley Pavilion consisted of a mix of shock and concern (unless you were one of the many Lancer supporters who made the trip, in which case you were ecstatic). And so, with a subpar half in the books, the question turned to how these Bruins would respond.
The answer, as it turns out, was accountability. Angela Dugelic talked in the postgame about how the halftime locker room was filled with everyone on the team, from senior leadership on down, taking responsibility for not doing things like following the scouting report and not meeting the moment with the required intensity. Coach Cori Close mentioned a similar thing, adding that she had some choice words to throw in as well.
In either case, the Bruins that came out in the second half were a much different team than the one we saw in the first. After giving up 34 points on 38.7% shooting in the first half, UCLA locked in on the defensive end, holding the Lancers to only nine total points in the entire second half en route to a 96-43 victory to start their NCAA Tournament run.
Whatever switch was flipped at the half was mighty effective. The Bruins were fine offensively in the first half - it wasn’t their best outing, but 44 points on 44.4% shooting was at least an acceptable half of basketball - but the defense left much to be desired. In the second half, the Bruins were a house of fire, doing a much better job of contesting the Lancers on the outside and cleaning up the boards. Cal Baptist only shot 12.1% from the field in the second half, and UCLA enjoyed a ridiculous 62-21 rebounding advantage in the game. Cal Baptist coach Jarrod Olsen had nothing but praise for the UCLA defense following the game, mentioning how the Bruins made things impossible in the second half for the Lancers to generate any sort of offensive flow.
We can talk about individual stats, such as both Betts sisters recording a double-double and how that might be the first time in NCAA history that a pair of sisters has done that in the same game in an NCAA Tournament (even if Lauren might contest that Sienna was padding her rebounding stats late), or how Kiki Rice had a wildly efficient game, scoring 18 points and going a perfect 10-10 from the free-throw line, but that elides the point. UCLA won this game not due to an individual effort, but thanks to a team that recognized that its effort in the first half was not up to the championship standard it had set for itself, and spent the second half righting those wrongs.
Now we’ll see how they build on that.
Here are my notes from the game:
First Quarter
The size difference between these two teams at the tip is just unreal. Cal Baptist is giving up at least a foot on the inside, and even Kiki Rice is skying over her defender. Credit to the Lancers, however, they aren’t backing down.
Lauren Betts is uncharacteristically sloppy early, with multiple turnovers and looking out of sorts as to how to attack the smaller Lancers. I’m sure that will change as the game progresses, but she is the first off the floor as a result.
Ok, coming out of the TV timeout was the exact tone UCLA needs to take. Gianna Kneepkens bullied her way to the basket, and on the free throw miss, Lauren Betts took advantage of the fact that she is almost two feet taller than the people trying to box her out to sky over them for the rebound and easy putback.
Coach Cori Close has already made an adjustment offensively and has stopped trying to get Lauren touches on the elbow and is instead sending her much lower to the low block, throwing the ball up top, and letting her size take over. CBU is forced into either giving up an easy layup or committing a foul.
End of 1Q thoughts: UCLA looked very tense at the start, while Cal Baptist is playing very freely. Once the Bruins settled and recognized how to take advantage of their size, they were able to retake control of the game. This would be a great time for them to establish things further and put some distance between the two teams. Credit to CBU, though; they are playing without fear and are hitting some tough shots so far.
Second Quarter
I was not alive for Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain’s dominance of the NBA, but I imagine it looked very similar to what UCLA is doing at this moment. This is pure caveman basketball (complimentary), with the Bruins not even bothering to run complicated sets and instead pounding the ball inside at every opportunity.
(As an aside, the Cal Baptist fans behind me are hilarious. A real highlight, to be sure.)
Fouls are rapidly going to become a problem for the Lancers. One player already has three fouls, another has two, and there really is no answer on the interior. This isn’t a case of UCLA being more physical, but more a sign of the size difference.
If the Bruins felt slighted by not being the #1 overall seed and wanted to prove a point, then this is definitely one way to do so. The Bruins are letting Cal Baptist stick around, and perhaps more distressingly, are making too many mistakes. This is not the kind of performance you would expect from them.
Halftime thoughts: That was…not good. You can rationalize it with a belief that Cal Baptist was underseeded, but we just watched this team paste Iowa just a week ago. I was talking to a few UCLA-related media members who were shocked at how little belief there is in the national media regarding this team’s chances against UConn, and I think it is performances like this that are the reason. UConn (and South Carolina, another program UCLA is trying to compare itself to) put away their opponent early and coasted, while the Bruins are going to have to put in plenty of work in this second half.
Third Quarter
So, fun behind-the-scenes stuff: during the NCAA Tournament, they sit the media along the baseline during the NCAA Tourney instead of up top in the media section like normal. Which is really cool! You get a better feel for the game this close, and as a basketball person, this is catnip. But the downside is you have to deal with some issues, and for me, the biggest issue is my seat today is right behind where the sideline ref sets up in half-court sets, so my view gets blocked half the time on this end. I’ve been able to move around and adjust, but it is a bit funny.
The UCLA crowd rose to its feet following that Cal Baptist timeout, and who can blame them? That was the best string of basketball UCLA has had all game, with the team locked in on defense while executing the offense.
UCLA makes a second adjustment, implementing a press out of the timeout that has Cal Baptist rattled. I’m sure Coach Close would have preferred not to have to break that out in the first round against a 16-seed, but winning is all that matters at this point.
And now it is UCLA’s turn to get into foul trouble. Not even halfway through the quarter, and Cal Baptist is already in the bonus. Meanwhile, Gabriela Jaquez has three fouls, while three other Bruins are sitting at two. As for the Lancers? While they have two players sitting on three fouls, the rest of their lineup is pretty good, mostly because the fouls have been very spread out.
Grace Schmidt’s free-throw shooting technique is one of the more unique ones I have ever seen. It hasn’t been very effective - she is currently 3-8 from the line as of this moment - but it is interesting!
This has really been a blink-and-you ’ll-miss-it moment, but the Bruins have taken a 10-point halftime lead and ballooned it to 30+ here. Maybe the team just needed a half to get their legs under them (similar stuff happened in the Big Ten Tournament), but the Bruins are playing much better now.
End of 3Q thoughts: Here’s the key stat to the quarter: the Lancers only made two shots total in the quarter. You could throw more here - the Bruins had 19 rebounds to only three for the Lancers, they had 11 fast break points, etc. - but I think that was the biggest part. UCLA finally showed up defensively and made life miserable for Cal Baptist on that end, and it let the Bruins take what had been a 10-point lead and extend it to almost 40 by the end of the quarter.
Fourth Quarter
I think I will be using this 4th quarter to ask a few questions going forward. To start: do you use this 4th quarter and have Gabriela Jaquez just launch threes to try and get her back in a rhythm? Her shooting has tanked since Big Ten play started, so this is as good a time as any to get her going again.
I like the idea of playing more of the bench in this game, especially now that it’s a 40+ difference, but I think it would have been better earlier for the core group to get more run and establish more of a rhythm, especially given how scattershot they looked in the first half.
Why on earth is Lauren Beetts coming back into the game with 3:13 remaining? Same with Leger-Walker and Kneepkens.
Ok, it is very funny to watch Lauren tease her sister Sienna for missing a bunny while up 50+.
There is a little over a minute left in the quarter, and Cal Baptist is sitting on nine points for the entire half. Can they make it to double-digits? (The answer was no)
Final thoughts from courtside: That second half was exactly how the Bruins should have looked all game. Not great that it took them a half to figure it out, but credit for showing some grit. And credit to Cal Baptist for all the fight they showed. That was an incredibly likable team, and I love them heading into the stands to go thank their fans afterwards.
The Bruins will return to Pauley on Monday for their second-round matchup against the Oklahoma State Cowgirls. Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM PT.
Go Bruins!
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There are only 9 players on the roster. There has to be at least one starter on the floor. I agree that with a big lead, you should not be putting in multiple starters. So which starter do you leave in the game? Close couldn't even get one walk-on?
Apparently, a full half was required to shake off the rust and lethargy from 13 days of inaction. If one had missed the game and only saw the final score, it would appear to have been business as usual. But a 52-9 blowout in the 2nd half is pretty crazy.
Go Lady Bruins!