For the second game in a row to start the season, UCLA women’s basketball played, and won, without two of their three Wooden Award Watchlist members, with Kiki Rice and Charlisse Leger-Walker missing the UCLA Bruins’ 81-63 win over Colgate University.
Leger-Walker remains out after transferring to the Bruins but the absence of her and Rice have yet to affect the UCLA squad, improving to 2-0 with the convincing win Sunday. Once again, junior center Lauren Betts led the way for the Bruins, as Betts poured in 31 points and nine rebounds.
USA Today’s reporter Meghan Hall reported before UCLA’s season-opener that Rice is “day-to-day” after suffering a shoulder injury in practice, a week later Rice remains out.
“Lauren is obviously just different this year,” Bruins’ head coach Cori Close said in the postgame press conference. “You saw her switch on defense with all those little players and shooting the three. Obviously we’re running things through her, she’s scoring, she’s expanding her range. I don’t think she wants to be called a center anymore, I think she wants to be a shooting forward the way she’s shooting the 17-footer.”
Betts added three blocks and a steal in the game while shooting an ultra-efficient 15-18 from the field. That efficiency took a step back at the free throw line, where Betts hit just one of her five free throws.
“More than any of that, is her growth in her leadership,” Close said of Betts. “That has been really tremendous.”
The 6’7” Stanford transfer has been dominant to start the season, averaging 24.5 points per game, 3.5 blocks and 11 rebounds to begin her second season with the Bruins.