Coming off Sunday’s 30-point victory over then-No. 12 Maryland — the program’s largest win margin over a top-15 team since 1992 — it would have been easy for the UCLA women’s basketball team to take unranked Purdue lightly.
Instead, the Bruins played with the intensity and focus characteristic of an NCAA Tournament game, dominating from start to finish in a 96-48 triumph Wednesday night at Pauley Pavilion.
The third-ranked Bruins (18-1 overall, 8-0 in Big Ten) won for the 12th straight time and are more than halfway to tying the program record of 23 in a row set last year. The 48-point win marked the sixth straight by 18 points or more.
All five starters scored in double figures. Gabriela Jaquez led the way with 25 points (on 10-of-11 shooting), Lauren Betts had 16 points and 10 rebounds, Kiki Rice and Charlisse Leger-Walker each had 15 and Gianna Kneepkens had 14.
The Bruins donned throwback jerseys, an homage to UCLA’s 1977-78 AIAW championship squad, and showed why a second national title is a possibility come April if the team continues to perform at its present level.
“We want to honor the players and teams who came before us,” Close said. “More importantly, we want to play in a way that honors them.”
Nya Smith scored 14 points, Avery Gordon had 13 and Tara Daye had 10 for the Boilermakers (10-9, 2-6), who lost their third consecutive meeting with UCLA and fell to 2-4 all-time against the Bruins.