hoosiers

The No. 2 UCLA women’s basketball team beat Indiana 92-48 at Pauley Pavilion on Sunday afternoon. Lauren Betts picked up a first-half double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. She finished with 16 points and was one of seven players to reach double figures.

“It speaks to how talented this team is,” Betts said. “We have threats at every single position, and it makes it so much easier for me to do my job, because I know that if they’re going to double, triple, I’m going to find somebody who’s able to score.”

UCLA extended its win streak to 19 games. With another lopsided victory under their belt, the Bruins said they have focused on consistency, no matter the opponent.

“I actually did bring that up in the locker room, and I should have, because that’s really been the challenge is to enjoy, relish, lean into, that we’re playing for our standard,” said coach Cori Close. “I’ve been really honest that we haven’t been doing that consistently against opponents that maybe don’t give the scoreboard, won’t give us that exact read.”

UCLA guard Kiki Rice drives to the basket under pressure from Indiana guard Nevaeh Caffey as Hoosiers forward Maya Makalusky watches at Pauley Pavilion on Sunday.

(Jessie Alcheh / Associated Press)

UCLA’s Charlisse Leger-Walker scored 10 points in the second quarter alone and Kiki Rice, who recorded a 15-point second half after only scoring two in the first, led all Bruins in points.

“I wasn’t happy with the way I competed in the first half,” Rice said. “Regardless of the outcome offensively, I can control how hard I play. I’m proud of my defense, and in the second half I focused in on that and started to find a better rhythm.”

UCLA (25-1, 15-0 Big Ten) separated itself from Indiana (14-13, 3-12) in the second quarter with 30 points, taking a 47-20 halftime lead. In the third quarter, the Bruins outscored the Hoosiers 29-14.

Maya Makalusky scored 13 points for Indiana and Lenée Beaumont added 11. They were the only Hoosiers in double figures.

Close said Angela Dugalic led the way for the Bruins in the first half, playing at the level of aggression that the coaching staff was looking for. Close added that Dugalic’s intense effort was in response to a couple of games during which Dugalic wasn’t playing to her usual standard.

“[Yesterday] we’re talking about what was leading to that,” Close said of a conversation with Dugalic. “She was like, ‘I just start second guessing when I get that first foul.’ And I was actually thankful that she had that scenario. And I just said, ‘Hey, this is what we talked about yesterday, you got to play the same way.’”

Indiana guard Lenée Beaumont drives to the basket under pressure from UCLA guards Charlisse Leger-Walker and Kiki Rice Sunday at Pauley Pavilion.

(Jessie Alcheh / Associated Press)

Dugalic picked up a foul in the first quarter, providing a chance to respond to adversity in a different way.

The Bruins’ four turnovers were their lowest total in a game this season after giving up the second most during a close win last week against No. 13 Michigan State. Close put the players through a special workout in between the games to reduce the giveaways.

“Not only did they have to do a bike sprint for every single turnover and every one under our passion play goal that they didn’t get, but they had to watch their lack of productivity while they did it,” Close said.

The Bruins held Indiana to 31.3% shooting from the field, below the Hoosiers’ 47.9% average on the season, fifth best in the Big Ten.

UCLA has three more games before the Big Ten tournament, with Washington up next at 7 p.m. PST on Thursday. A Bruins win or a Michigan loss would clinch the No. 1 tournament seed for UCLA.

Their frustrating midseason slump was finally in the rear-view mirror, their season finally feeling back on the right track.

Any reservations about USC righting the ship after losing six of seven had largely been forgotten on the heels of a four-game winning streak. Victories over No. 8 Iowa, Rutgers, Northwestern and Illinois, two of which came on the road, had cemented its place on the right side of the NCAA tournament bubble.

But as the Trojans were reminded in a 79-73 win over Indiana at Galen Center, now is no time to get comfortable — even if Thursday’s victory had marked their longest winning streak of the season.

The Hoosiers certainly never let USC settle in, even as freshman Jazzy Davidson poured in another stat-stuffing performance that would have to carry a stagnant Trojan offense for much of the way. It would take an aggressive defensive effort, too, complete with 19 forced turnovers, to put Indiana away.

That it took such a hard-fought effort to escape a team that’s 3-11 in the Big Ten and was without the Big Ten’s leading scorer, Shay Ciezki, was not exactly reassuring, as USC (16-9 overall, 8-6 in the Big Ten) enters the final four games of their regular season slate. Two of those four are against top 10 teams, Ohio State and UCLA.

But where the Trojans might have slipped up earlier in the season, they held tight Thursday.

“We were tough where we needed to be when shots weren’t falling,” coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “Our confidence to get it done when it’s not always prettiest is something that we’re proud of.”

Outside of a stellar second quarter, Thursday’s win certainly would not be remembered for being aesthetically pleasing. Over the rest of the game, Trojans shot under 32% from the floor. Their issues from three-point range persisted, as they made just three of 19 from behind the arc. Over their last four games, they’ve knocked down just 11 of 68 (16%).

They wouldn’t need them Thursday, not with Davidson looking as dynamic as ever. The freshman sensation followed up a career-high, 27-point performance with 24 points, along with six rebounds, three assists and three steals. She did so while playing all 40 minutes.

“You talk about overdelivering,” Gottlieb said, “To be a freshman and carry the load for us and continue to grow, the numbers are really showing it … she’s just capable of doing almost anything on a basketball court.”

That much has been abundantly clear over the last seven games, with Davidson as she’s averaging 20 points, six assists, five rebounds, two steals and two blocks per night. She credited that outburst with being more comfortable down the final stretch of the season.

The Trojans will likely go as far as their dynamic freshman can take them as March approaches. But of late that’s been a pretty successful strategy.

“She’s unique,” Gottlieb said. “I know there are several good freshmen in the country. We know how good she is. We see it every day, and we think there’s no one better.”

USC didn’t look early on like a team that had found solid ground . The Trojans went six straight minutes in the first without a single field goal, then gave up an 8-0 run to Indiana in the final 1:22 of the quarter.

It was until Davidson turned it on in the second quarter that USC seized control. Fresh off her fifth Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors, Davidson tallied 10 points in the second alone, while the Hoosiers had just 13 total, USC’s defense clamping down after a sloppy start.

With Indiana’s attention on Davidson, Kara Dunn and Kennedy Smith would help the Trojans fire out front, as they combined for 20 points after half. But the Hoosiers tied the score just one possession into the fourth quarter.

An elbow to the face of guard Malia Samuels gave the Trojans free throws and a seven-point lead with just four minutes remaining in the game. Still, a foul from Dunn on a corner three-pointer by Indiana’s Maya Makalusky opened the door for the Hoosiers.

Makalusky, who led all scorers with 29, hit another three to once again cut the lead to a single possession.

But USC held on, with Smith applying the punctuation mark, snagging a driving Indiana lay-in out of mid-air with just a minute remaining. It was the sort of play that reminded what USC might be capable of, with everything working in concert.

It’ll need that to be the case, if it hopes to make noise come March.

“We’re in position to do all the things we set out to do,” Gottlieb said. “We’re as good and set up as any team outside of maybe the top group to get a great seed.”