On Wednesday night at Pauley Pavilion, the No. 3 UCLA Bruins women’s basketball team defeated the Purdue Boilermakers in blowout fashion to bring their overall record to 18-1, and improve to an 8-0 record in the Big Ten conference. The Bruins were able to secure a victory over Purdue while rocking their throwback jerseys, meant to honor the previous generation of Bruins, specifically the UCLA 1978-79 AIAW National Champion Women’s basketball team.
Photographed by Regan Rhodes/BruinLife.
The first quarter was a dominant performance by the Bruins, setting the tone early as senior guard Kiki Rice scored the first basket, and was followed up by an electric 3-pointer by graduate guard Gianna Kneepkens that got Pauley Pavilion on their feet in only the first few minutes of the game, and established a five point lead over Purdue to start the game.
The Bruins defense was a highlight of the first quarter, limiting Purdue to only eight points despite their several attempts to make layup attempts and offensive pushes on the Bruins. Purdue guard Tara Daye attempted to score on the Bruins early on to make up for their deficit, but the Bruins defense set the tone. Almost every time that it looked like Purdue would manage to get past the Bruins defense and score, the Bruins always found a way to shut them down.
Photographed by Regan Rhodes/BruinLife
For example, there was a large offensive push from guards Madison Layden-Zay, Tara Daye and forward Saige Stahl in an aggressive push that looked as if it had penetrated the Bruins defense, but the Bruins fought them off until the whistle was blown. Near the end of the quarter, Purdue attempted to make one final offensive push with the combined efforts of Hila Karsh, Layden-Zay and Daye, but the Bruins offense was able to hold them off until the buzzer, where the shot was called as a “no-basket.”
The Bruins offense, much like their defense, was also hot, with an electric offensive play by senior center Lauren Betts, who managed to cut through the entire Purdue defense to make a field goal, and followed it up by scoring another field goal.
The Bruins ended the first quarter with an absolutely dominant score of 22-8, setting the tone for the rest of the game.
Photographed by Regan Rhodes/BruinLife
In the second quarter, the Bruins were able to successfully build on the momentum that they had in the first quarter, extending their lead against Purdue and outscored them 24-12. The Boilermakers, however, only marginally improved offensively, and even when they were trying to build up some momentum, the Bruins defense continued to shut them down. Purdue guard McKenna Layden attempted to pass the ball to Nya Smith to set up a field goal, only for the pass to be blocked by Betts. The Bruins ended the quarter with a 26-point lead over the Boilermakers.
In the third quarter, the Boilermakers offense finally started to catch up, scoring 18 points to the Bruins’ 22. Purdue forward Avery Gordon made two baskets being assisted by Layden-Zay and Daye, and forward Lana McCarthy also made a basket.
Despite the momentum built up by Purdue, UCLA’s offense managed to stay consistent. Junior guard Gabriela Jaquez, on two separate occasions, like a one-man army, tore through the Purdue defense to make two baskets, and then later made another basket followed by a 3-pointer.
The fourth quarter saw the Bruins rise to dominance once again after an underwhelming third quarter, where the Bruins outscored the Boilermakers 28-10. Especially impressive from the Bruins was the performance from Jaquez, who, after receiving three fouls during the game, went on an offensive rampage and made multiple baskets as well as a 3-point shot.
Photographed by Regan Rhodes/BruinLife
Jaquez, when asked about what changed about her mindset following halftime, said during a postgame interview that she “just really had a reset after the three fouls…I tried to take the focus off of myself, because it’s not about me, it’s about the team.”
The Bruins ended the game with a final score of 96-48, outscoring Purdue by 48 points—a blowout. Despite the game being a blowout, UCLA women’s basketball head coach Cori Close did not think the game was perfect, expressing during a postgame interview that there were areas where the Bruins could have done better on offense and defense, particularly with the second quarter.
Close stated that “If you don’t execute on the scouting report and take away what they’re [Purdue] good at, they’re gonna do what they’re good at, and they showed that…there’s a lot more consistency to fight for.”
Photographed by Regan Rhodes/BruinLife.
Although Close pointed out some of the Bruins’ inconsistencies, the Bruins’ starters outperformed Purdue in every metric. The Bruins’ lowest scoring starter, Kneepkens, scored 14 points, the same amount as Purdue’s highest scoring starter tonight, being Smith. The Bruins’ highest scoring player was Jaquez with 25 points, who will certainly look to build on this success in the future.
After tonight’s win against Purdue, the Bruins will now turn their attention to their upcoming road trip, the first of which being a 1 p.m. PST matchup against Northwestern at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Sunday Jan. 25.
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Featured Image Photographed by Regan Rhodes/BruinLife
