Kiki Rice scored 20 points and No. 1 UCLA raced to a big lead en route to a 70-41 victory over Creighton on Friday night in the Invisalign Bay Area Women’s Classic, winning without their best player, Lauren Betts.
Angela Dugalic added 13 points and 14 rebounds for the second straight double-double for the Bruins (12-0, 1-0 Big Ten), whose strong defense made Creighton’s top shooters uncomfortable.
Morgan Maly scored 15 points to lead the Bluejays (9-3, 1-0 Big East), whose eight-game hitting streak was snapped.
The 6-foot-7 punter sat out the second straight game with a leg injury suffered against Long Beach State on Dec. 14. He averages a team-best 19.8 points and 10.0 rebounds.
Creighton leading scorer Lauren Jensen was held to four points on 2-of-15 shooting after coming into the game averaging 19.1 points.
The taker
Creighton: Creighton was 1 of 13 in the first quarter, missing all five of its 3s to fall behind quickly and finish 5 of 22 from deep. The Bluejays are 0-4 in the series, losing to UCLA in the second round of last season’s NCAA Tournament, 67-63.
UCLA: Rice shot 8 of 13 and had five rebounds and four assists. Freshman guard Elina Aarnisalo increased her career-leading assist total to 63 through the first 12 games of her collegiate career.
Time is important
UCLA shot 11 of 22 in the first quarter – 4 of 6 from 3-point range – to jump out to a 26-4 lead.
Key statistics
UCLA held a 59-26 lead that rebounded – 29-12 in the first half en route to a 42-23 halftime lead. Janiah Barker caught 11.
Next
UCLA hosts Nebraska on Dec. 29 while Creighton visits St. John’s on Dec. 28.
It is reported by the Associated Press.
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