LOS ANGELES — The top-ranked UCLA women’s basketball team took control in the fourth quarter to beat Ohio State, 65-52, and set a program record with its 22nd consecutive win on Wednesday night at Pauley Pavilion.
UCLA (22-0 overall, 10-0 Big Ten), which remains the only unbeaten team in Division I, eclipsed a 21-game win streak set during the 1977-78 season.
The Buckeyes’ Elsa Lemmilä, a 6-foot-6 freshman center, created an interesting one-on-one matchup with UCLA’s Lauren Betts, but the Bruins’ center was able to use her athleticism to score 19 points to go with 14 rebounds and three blocked shots.
Gabriela Jaquez added 17 points, Kiki Rice scored 12 points and Angela Dugalic pulled down 10 rebounds.
UCLA outrebounded Ohio State (20-1, 9-1) by a wide margin (49-33) but a season-high 23 turnovers hurt the Bruins.
UCLA was visibly frustrated in the fourth quarter, as Ohio State diligently chipped away to tie the score at 44-all 34 seconds in the period. The Bruins countered with a 19-1 run that included nine points from Jaquez. The Bruins outrebounded Ohio State 13-2 in the fourth, with Jaquez grabbing three.
Rice maneuvered around defenders to make back-to-back unassisted layups and Janiah Barker hit a 3-pointer that swung the momentum back in the Bruins’ favor.
UCLA looked as though it could pull away from the Buckeyes when Betts made a layup in the first 30 seconds of the second quarter to give the Bruins a 20-6 lead. Their timing and passing was off, however, which limited the offense.
Rice missed a teammate with a pass but was able to to grab a steal almost immediately afterward to make a layup. It wasn’t the prettiest play, but UCLA put together an 8-2 run for a 30-24 lead at halftime.
The Bruins struggled to fully separate themselves to begin the second half. The third-quarter scoring run that has become a signature part of UCLA’s offense was missing, but the turnovers kept on coming.
A series of long passes from Elina Aarnisalo to Betts to Jaquez and another long pass from Barker to Jaquez resulted in back-to-back layups and a 38-31 lead with 4:30 left in the third quarter.
UCLA used speed to combat Ohio State’s press defense and rushed forward any time there was open space. The Buckeyes effectively defended for most of the first quarter and scored eight points off of UCLA’s eight turnovers in the period.
The Bruins gained a two-point edge at the end of the frame after Angela Dugalić tied the score at 16-all. Ohio State shot 0 for 5 and couldn’t manufacture a point for the final 2:47.
Betts had 13 points and 10 rebounds in the first half, the first time in the junior’s career she had a double-double by halftime.
Jaloni Cambridge had 21 points to lead the Buckeyes, who shot a season-worst 29.4% from the field. Cotie McMahon added 14 points.
UP NEXT
UCLA plays at Oregon on Sunday at 1 p.m.
More to come in this story.