The No.1 UCLA Bruins will leave Bloomington still unbeaten after their 73-62 win on Saturday over Indiana. Even if the UCLA women’s basketball team had to sweat it out a bit, the Bruins moved to 15-0 for just the second time in program history.
Despite the fact that UCLA led by double-digits nearly all of the fourth quarter, with Indiana not scratching to within eight points until there was less than a minute remaining in the fourth, things didn’t feel necessarily smooth for the top team in the country.
Not only did the team seem more reliant than ever on junior Lauren Betts, who had another terrific game on Saturday with 25 points and 12 rebounds, but the victory wasn’t a glamourous one. The Bruins relied more on their toughness than their talent, which is something that Bruins head coach Cori Close was happy to see.
“Credit to them. I’m really impressed with the job that they did,” Close said of Indiana. “But I was also really impressed with our team. I’ve been really challenging them recently to be willing to win ugly. To be willing to win in a gritty way and not a pretty way.”
There have been plenty of highlights since the start of the season, but Saturday’s win felt a bit more translatable to March, when the Bruins will have to battle for wins, regardless of how much talent resides on their roster.
“This wasn’t our best day,” Close said of her team, “but I thought the way they responded to adversity and willing to just win ugly, I’m impressed with.”
UCLA will stay in Indiana as it prepares for another Big Ten test on Tuesday against Purdue.