Postgame Talk: UCLA Shows Off Its Depth in Win Over Maryland, 97-67
The Bruins did not require a vintage Lauren Betts performance to knock off the #12 team in the nation.
Blowouts are hard to write compelling postgame stories about. With a close game, you have the narrative of how final possessions play out and how in-game adjustments affect the final outcomes. It is a narrative in every sense of the word.
For a blowout, things are different. You have to find a narrative where you can, especially once both teams recognize the situation and adjust their level of play accordingly. Which is essentially what happened for the entire second half of UCLA’s 97-67 victory over Maryland. After a quick burst to start the half, both teams recognized the situation and adjusted accordingly. Lauren Betts only had to play six minutes in the second half, sitting in favor of her sister Sienna, while the Bruins tried out a bevy of different looks to get some practice in.
Thankfully, the first half had enough juice to provide some narrative. The Terrapins made the conscious decision to take Lauren Betts out of the game, and for the most part they succeeded. Betts was limited to only two shot attempts in the first half thanks to a defense that threw multiple bodies at her every time she touched the ball. On defense, Maryland went away from their traditional post to more of a stretch forward, pulling Betts out of the paint more often and opening up driving lanes for the Terrapins. It was a smart strategy given how much Betts warps the game.
Unfortunately for Maryland, this UCLA squad is ridiculously deep. With Betts as the focus, UCLA instead found major contributions on the outside from Charlisse Leger-Walker and Gianna Kneepkens. Both players ended the half with 13 points apiece, with Leger-Walker hitting four three-point attempts while Kneepkens made three. Gabriela Jaquez was also able to take advantage of the excessive focus on Betts by bullying the Terrapins on the inside, as Maryland was too afraid of Betts to send help defense on her drives. Jaquez was 5-7 from the field in the first half en route to a team-high 22 points, and the Bruins were able to command a 48-24 advantage on points in the paint despite Lauren Betts only accounting for 10 of those.
This UCLA squad is deep. I asked Leger-Walker and Kneepkens about that depth in the postgame, and Kneepkens mentioned that the depth was one of the big reasons for her transfer to the program, as she could play freely without having to worry about being the focal point. UCLA goes seven deep with players that can absolutely burn an opponent, which is a level of depth not many teams in the nation can handle, and it means that if one of their players has an off night, it isn’t a death sentence.
The UCLA women’s team is a legitimately great team, full of stars that can light up the basketball court at a moment’s notice, but therein lies the problem they are trying to answer. The Big Ten is perhaps the best top-to-bottom conference in women’s basketball, but it is increasingly obvious that UCLA sits a cut above its conference foes and won’t be legitimately challenged until the NCAA Tournament. UCLA will have only played one game against a national title contender by the end of the regular season, and will have to hope that it can find enough internal growth to get it over the hump in the Final Four.
We’ll see if that comes back to haunt them, but for now, we can at least enjoy some stress-free basketball.
Game Notes
I’ve decided this UCLA team has to be one of the most annoying things in the world to defend. Lauren Betts, by herself, is already a problem that most teams will have difficulty solving, but the starting lineup (and let’s throw Angela Dugelic here as well) surrounds her with players who can score at all three levels, meaning the opposing defense has to constantly be active or risk giving up points. Just as an example, Gianna Kneepkens found herself with an inch of space upon receiving the ball early in a set and decided to launch a three before the Maryland defender could react, leading to an uncontested three-point make.
UCLA came out to start the second quarter with a weird twin-towers lineup with Lauren and Sienna Betts both on the floor. I don’t think this lineup works from an offensive standpoint - neither Betts sister can stretch the floor, meaning the Terrapins were able to crowd the paint defensively - and the defense was a bit iffy, with neither Betts sister being especially comfortable from the perimeter. Still, an interesting wrinkle (that only lasted three minutes of game time).
Maryland has hit on a solid offensive gameplan to neutralize Betts on defense. By running a stretch five, they’re dragging Betts to the perimeter where she’s less effective, and opening up driving lanes for the other Terrapin players. I don’t know that it will ultimately be successful - the talent gap between the two teams is still a huge factor - but it is something that a more talented team late in the NCAA Tournament might consider.
Here’s a good example of how Lauren Betts is influencing the game without posting big numbers on the stat sheet. At the half, Betts has only taken two shots, has just one rebound, and has two assists. She has generally spent most offensive possessions not even touching the ball. Yet the Bruins have scored 47 points and are shooting 58% from the field in large part because of her. Maryland is so concerned about not letting her beat them inside that they’re hedging the defense down, which is leaving UCLA’s outside shooters wide open more often than not. The Bruins have taken over half of their shot attempts in the first half (17 of 32) from beyond the arc, and they’re making 52.9% of their attempts.
A note about attendance today: attendance does not look particularly great inside Pauley, with the top sections almost devoid of people outside a few spots, and empty patches all through the lower bowl. It’s an I’m Going to College day as well, which is helping to juice today’s attendance. By all accounts, this game should have really good attendance, being a Top 15 matchup at a reasonable time slot, but either UCLA fans did not get the memo or, more likely, they did not know about the game to begin with.
The talent advantage is really starting to show itself in the second half. Maryland is generating some decent looks, but they’re having to put in a lot of effort to achieve them. Meanwhile, any mistake the Terrapins make is leading to easy points for the Bruins. It is an absolute luxury for this Bruin squad to have such a talent advantage over what is a very good basketball conference.
These are good minutes for Sienna Betts in the second half. Not good as in her level of play, mind you, but good for her development to get some time playing against a high-major opponent. She’s making mistakes, but UCLA is up by enough that it’s not a big deal.
Lauren Betts may be UCLA’s most important player, but I would argue that Charlisse Leger-Walker is UCLA’s best player. She is a threat at all levels of the court, is a great rebounder, and her vision and court awareness make everyone around her better. Leger-Walker means UCLA doesn’t get shot in the foot whenever Kiki Rice has a bad game (which is happening again today), as she’s a more consistent player. If UCLA wins a national championship, it will be largely due to the presence of Leger-Walker.
I am going to question Coach Close’s player usage in a game that has nominally been a blowout for the entire second half. There’s no real reason for Leger-Walker and Gabriela Jaquez to have played 30+ minutes in this game, and I’m guessing Kneepkens and Rice will get close by the end here. Just seems unnecessary.
UCLA finished with a 62.5% shooting percentage from the field, which is impressive for a team that is not running a complex offense. Coach Close mentioned in the postgame that the strategy is simply to read and react to what opponents are giving them, which is how you end up with so many open looks from the outside, but that same system has led to past issues against teams that can match the talent level. In this way, the growth of Leger-Walker may prove to be the difference, as she has a level of vision that the Bruins have lacked in the past.
Go Bruins!
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I loved that pass from CLW to Gabs in the photo at the top of the article.
Very Nikola Jokic-esque!
One thing to remember with Sienna is she missed the first 10 games of this season. It's of course a steep learning curve going from high school to U.C.L.A. anyway, but she would be a bit further along in her development otherwise.
our athletic department has sucked for the last 25 years, Pauley should have been nearly full for this game.