UCLA women remain undefeated with rout of Purdue
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Lauren Betts finished with 17 points and seven rebounds in 22 minutes Tuesday night and Timea Gardiner added 16 points off the bench as the No. 1 UCLA Bruins never trailed in an 83-49 rout at Purdue.
Coach Cori Close gave her starters plenty of rest with Londynn Jones logging the most minutes, 25, in the Bruins’ second game in four days in Indiana. UCLA pulled off a rare double by beating Purdue and Indiana on their home courts to remain a perfect 16-0 (5-0 Big Ten).
Destini Lombard scored 16 points to lead the Boilermakers (7-8, 0-4). Rashunda Jones and McKenna Layden each had eight points for Purdue.
But it was never really close. UCLA scored the first 13 points and kept the Boilermakers at arm’s length the rest of the night at a venue that features a statue of former Purdue All-American and UCLA men’s basketball coach John Wooden and his Pyramid of Success.
UCLA outscored Purdue 40-12 in the paint, which explained the big discrepancy in the field goal percentages. The Bruins shot 53.2% compared with Purdue’s 33.3%.
Cori Close credits much of the success she has had as the winningest coach in UCLA women’s basketball history to the lessons she learned from John Wooden.
Close couldn’t have scripted a better trip for her team. They beat the Hoosiers by double digits Saturday, attended an NBA game between the Indiana Pacers and Phoenix Suns on Saturday night, gave her starters a well-deserved break Tuesday night and even avoided getting caught in this week’s snowstorm.
Purdue coach Katie Gearlds’ rebuilding project is in Year 4, and it’s hard to know how much progress she’s made at her alma mater. The Boilermakers remain winless in league play, with all four losses coming to top 25 teams and four of their next five also against ranked foes.
The Bruins jumped out to a 10-0 lead that forced Gearlds to burn her first timeout just 97 seconds into the game. It didn’t help. Purdue trailed 29-15 after one quarter and never recovered from the early onslaught.
UCLA returns home to play Northwestern on Sunday.
Go beyond the scoreboard
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