The #5 UCLA Bruins cruised to their fourth straight win to start the season on Sunday with a 101-52 over Arkansas behind some fantastic shooting from junior forward Timea Gardiner.
Gardiner took 12 shots on Sunday, all of them from three point distance and she went 7-12 and knocking down a pair of free throws in her 23 point performance. Gardiner has now gone 15-26 from three this season (57.7%) on 6.5 attempts per game.
“We ran in transition today a lot more because we were getting defensive stops. That allowed us to get a lot of easy baskets and we played inside out so it was, I wouldn’t say easy to score because Arkansas is a great team,” Gardiner said in the press conference Sunday. “But, there was a lot of open people for sure.”
The junior is now averaging 14 points per game on the season, taking on some of the scoring load alongside junior center Lauren Betts, who continued her terrific start to the season with 20 points and 12 rebounds.
“The work done in the dark always get revealed in the light,” Bruins’ head coach Cori Close said of Gardiner, the Oregon State transfer. “This is a huge part of why we were so excited to add her to our team.”
Junior guard Kiki Rice made her season debut on Sunday, playing 11 minutes off the bench. Rice would go 0-4 from the field but Coach Close said that she’s “expecting” Rice to play next Sunday against #1 ranked South Carolina.