The week leading up to the NCAA Tournament was filled with urgency for the UCLA women’s basketball team. Coach Cori Close wanted her team to punch first and start strong, which the second-seeded Bruins did in their first-round win over California Baptist in the Regional 2 in Albany.
Close rated her team’s efforts a B-plus after the Saturday night home game and wants to see even more of an immediacy mindset for Monday’s 5:30 p.m. game against No. 7 seed Creighton (26-5) at Pauley Pavilion.
The winner of the game will play the winner of Sunday’s game between No. 11 seed Middle Tennessee and No. 3 seed LSU in the Sweet 16.
“Can you have that kind of consistent urgency and understanding of every possession matters? That’s not a cliche, that’s reality,” Close told reporters after the game. “If you don’t treat it that way, it’ll be your last game.”
UCLA (26-6) was without star 6-foot-7 center Lauren Betts on Saturday night. The sophomore was dressed in street clothing for the game after being seen on Wednesday at practice with her foot/ankle wrapped and elevated. She appeared to walk without difficulty on Saturday.
“Nothing major,” Close said. “I’m hopeful we’re going to be able to get her back on Monday. I don’t know yet for sure.”
@haleymsawyer UCLA’s 6-foot-7 center Lauren Betts is out again. Here’s everything I know about her absence/injury. #ucla #basketball #girlpower #girlsbasketball #womensbasketball #marchmadness #ncaatournament #ncaabasketball #collegebasketball #sports #journalist
The Bruins acted quickly without the size, blocks and easy lay-ins that Betts brings, playing in front of a crowd of nearly 9,000 people that included Nina and Russell Westbrook, two UCLA alumni who have attended multiple women’s basketball games this season.
They responded well coming out of timeouts called after big offensive runs by CBU on two different occasions. Charisma Osborne stayed locked in the entirety of the game and was one assist short of a triple-double (15 points, 15 rebounds, nine assists).
Gabriela Jaquez’s toughness was an asset, especially considering the 6-foot sophomore was playing in an unfamiliar role at power forward. She scored 19 points and pulled down seven rebounds while actively working to shut down CBU’s transition offense.
She was texting Close even the night before the game asking for plays revolving around power forward that UCLA would use the most and offered encouraging words the morning of.
“It’s always more important to Gabs to win than to do anything that she’s comfortable with,” Close said. “And she showed a little bit of everything tonight. She showed herself on the rebound, she showed herself in the post, hitting a couple threes off the bounce. It’s really about her attitude.”
Creighton beat No. 10 seed UNLV 87-73 on Saturday behind the scoring efforts of Lauren Jensen (25 points) and Emma Ronsiek (23 points). Ronsiek, a 6-foot-1 forward, moved to eighth for all-time scoring in program history and now has 1,608 career points.
As a team, the Bluejays shot 50.8% in the game. They are also the top-ranked team in the nation in free throw percentage at 82.89% but only made 44.4% of shots from the charity stripe on Saturday.
UCLA is 2-0 all-time against Creighton, and Close said she wants to limit the Bluejays’ 3-point attempts after California Baptist attempted 21 shots from range. Creighton attempted 20 against UNLV.
“That’s going to be the number one thing for our game against Creighton,” Close said.
UCLA is going for its third win over Creighton after the Bruins beat them twice in the 2017-18 season. Consistent urgency, whether Betts comes back or not, could make the difference.
It’s Betts’ second absence of the year after she missed four games midway through the season due to an undisclosed medical reason. UCLA can draw on that experience in striving for an uptick in urgency for Monday night.
“Can you respond quickly? Can you grow significantly?” Close said. “Can you execute a brand new scouting report with a completely different set of expectations and responses that are going to be needed? That’s the key to making a deep run in March.”
No. 7 seed Creighton (26-5) at No. 2 seed UCLA (26-6)
What: NCAA Tournament second round
When: Monday, 5:30 p.m.
Where: Pauley Pavilion
TV: ESPN2
