The No. 2 UCLA women’s basketball team extended its win streak to 20 games and clinched the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament Thursday night.
The Bruins beat Washington 82-67 at Pauley Pavilion. Lauren Betts scored a game-high 23 points and was one of five UCLA players to finish with double-figure scoring, while Washington freshman Brynn McGaughy recorded the second-highest point total of her college career with 19.
With the exception of Gianna Kneepkens, who was three-of-four from three-point range and scored 17 points, UCLA (26-1, 16-0 Big Ten) struggled from beyond the arc against the Huskies, shooting 26.7% — below its season’s average of 38.2%.
Washington (19-8, 9-7) had four players who scored six points during the first half, while UCLA’s Betts and Angela Dugalic led the way with 14 and eight points, respectively.
The Bruins led the Huskies 22-12 after the first quarter and extended that lead to 42-29 by halftime, leading by as much as 19 midway through the second quarter.
The Bruins nearly doubled up the Huskies on rebounds, with 37 to their opponent’s 20.
McGaughy went on a run for the Huskies in the third quarter, scoring 10 points in a row for her team, en route to the Huskies’ highest-scoring quarter of the game to that point with 19. But the Bruins still won the quarter, adding two points to their lead.
UCLA has two regular-season games remaining, playing its home finale against Wisconsin at 2:30 p.m. Sunday and against rival USC on March 1.
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