Lauren Betts leads No. 4 UCLA to a dominant 83-61 win over No. 25 Nebraska

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LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lauren Betts scored 18 points and had 10 rebounds to help No. 4 UCLA to an 83-61 win over No. 25 Nebraska on Sunday.

Betts also added four blocks and five steals for the Bruins (15-1, 5-0 Big Ten).

UCLA used an 11-2 first quarter run to take control of the game and stretched its lead to 35-20 on Gianna Kneepkens’ 3-pointer with 2:21 remaining in the first half.

Nebraska (14-3, 3-3) cut the deficit to 10 on Jessie Petrie’s layup that opened the second half scoring. But the Huskers could get no closer the rest of the way.

Sienna Betts’ layup with 4:03 left in the third period pushed the lead to 52-32. UCLA’s largest lead was 27 late in the game..

Five other Bruins joined Lauren Betts in double figures: Kneepkens finished with 16 points, Charlisse Leger-Walker had 14 points, Sienna Betts and Kiki Rice had 12 points each and Gabriela Jaquez had 11.

The taller, more physical Bruins dominated Nebraska defensively and on the boards. The Bruins stifled Nebraska’s shooters, who hit just 38% of their shots and 33% from three, and held the Huskers 24 points below their 85 points per game season average.

UCLA outrebounded 43-28 and turned 16 offensive rebounds into 17 second chance points.

Amilia Hargrove scored 12 points to lead Nebraska. Logan Nissey had 11 for the Huskers and Jessica Petrie, Callin Hake and Eliza Maupin had 10 points each.

UCLA travels to Minnesota Wednesday.

Nebraska travels to No. 15 Michigan State Thursday.

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