Lauren Betts powers No. 9 UCLA to dominant victory over Oregon
Lauren Betts had 17 points and nine rebounds to lead No. 9 UCLA to a 74-55 win over Oregon on Sunday.
Londynn Jones added 15 points for the Bruins and Charisma Osborne had 11 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Kiki Rice had 10 points and nine rebounds for UCLA (20-5, 9-5 Pac-12), which bounced back from a last-second loss to No. 11 Oregon State on Friday.
“Coach told us to be us because sometimes we play to try and beat the other team and take away everything they are doing,” Osborne said. “Being ourselves is the main thing for us. When we do that, we usually win.”
Osborne moved up to second on the school’s all-time scoring list this week while stretching her school record by playing in her 143rd career game.
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“I keep saying this to anyone who will listen, how many winnings plays she makes,” UCLA coach Cori Close said. “She makes winning plays on both sides of the ball so I am proud of how she has led us in that.”
Grace VanSlooten had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead Oregon (11-16, 2-12), which lost its ninth straight game. Chance Gray added 15 points for the Ducks.
UCLA led 45-28 at halftime and extended the lead before Oregon closed within 53-40. The Bruins ended any hopes of an upset scoring the final nine points of the third quarter. Rice made a three-pointer for the Bruins and Betts followed with a bucket before Osborne made two free throws.
Rice added a jumper to close out the quarter as UCLA took a 62-40 lead.
“This is a team that knows what they are playing for, they are playing for each other and to be the people they know they have worked to become,” Close said. “That loss [at Oregon State] stung bad, we let it get away and we had to deal with it. I showed them 21 mental errors on defense or fouls that really hurt us. I am proud of them because you can take that one way or another and they took it to heart. They all came in with the mindset that we have to get one possession better.”
UCLA got off to a hot start as Osborne hit a three-pointer before Jones made back-to-back three-pointers to put the Bruins ahead 9-2. Betts added a basket before Osborne made another three-pointer to put the Bruins ahead 14-2.
“Coming out with a response and energy was the most important part,” Close said. “Establishing that early allowed us to control the pace of the game. We did not play a perfect game but we responded quickly even to their mini-runs.”
Betts pushed the lead to 25-9 before Oregon scored eight straight points to get within 25-17 on a basket from Sarah Rambus early in the second quarter.
Jones scored five straight UCLA points and Betts added a bucket as the Bruins pulled ahead 36-21 before taking a 45-28 lead at halftime.
Big picture
UCLA: The Bruins rebounded from a buzzer-beater loss to No. 11 Oregon State to move into a tie for fifth place in the conference, just one game out of fourth and a bye in the opening round of the Pac-12 tournament. The Bruins have a chance to move up when they head home next week to face No. 22 Utah and No. 8 Colorado as UCLA is tied with the Utes and one game back of the Buffaloes. … Angela Dugalic, who played at Oregon before transferring to UCLA, had nine points, four rebounds, and four assists for UCLA.
Oregon: Eight of the nine losses during the streak have come against ranked opponents. The schedule gets a bit easier as Oregon heads to Washington and Washington Sate before hosting Cal and all three of those foes are unranked. Oregon has its worst record at this point in the season since 10th-year coach Kelly Graves was in his first year.
Up next for UCLA: vs. No. 22 Utah at Pauley Pavilion on Thursday.
Go beyond the scoreboard
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