Minnesota went toe to toe with the top-ranked team in the country for two and a half quarters Sunday in Los Angeles, thanks largely to the brilliance of Amaya Battle.
The Gophers were within six after Sophie Hart drained a jumper with 5 minutes, 48 seconds to play in the third frame.
Then the Bruins showed exactly why they’ve yet to lose this season.
UCLA scored 11 of the final 15 points of the quarter, and officially put the game away with a 20-4 run in the middle of the fourth en route to a 79-53 victory at Pauley Pavilion.
In her postgame radio interview, Gophers coach Dawn Plitzuweit noted the loss was a near opposite of Minnesota’s defeat three days prior against Southern California, in which the Gophers were doomed by a slow start in a game they essentially played even after the opening quarter.
There can be no extended lapses if Minnesota is to contend with the nation’s top teams.
Minnesota (18-5, 6-5 Big Ten) held UCLA star center Lauren Betts to just six points — 14 below her season average — but the junior used the added defensive attention to her teammates’ advantage. Betts finished with 11 assists on a day when the Bruins hit 13 triples on 40 percent shooting from deep.
Elina Aarnisalo led the Bruins (21-0, 9-0 Big Ten) with 15 points, while Kiki Rice scored 14 and Londynn Jones had 13.
Sunday marked Betts’ first game all season in single digits scoring, but she more than doubled her previous season best in assists.
“What we told our team is we have two options in this game: One is to play her 1 on 1. And teams that have done that, she scores at will, and she still kicks it out at times that she needs to,” Plitzuweit said in her postgame radio interview. “If you put two players on her, the hard part is you’re just not big enough to really tip that pass out of that. We did force some turnovers, but you’re not big enough, and now she can see over you and find the next kid. Now you’re in a hard rotation. That’s a tough decision, but one where you go back and, maybe the next time we play them, you do it differently. But, at the same time, we tried to do what we thought was best and put us in the best situation.”
Meanwhile, the Gophers finished with just 12 assists as a team as they struggled to find any offensive rhythm.
Battle carried the load in the first half, scoring 17 of Minnesota’s 28 points over the first two quarters. At the break, Battle was 8 for 10 from the field, while the rest of her teammates were a combined 4 for 19.
Battle finished with 21 points. Grace Grocholski added 12 points and eight rebounds, but no one else scored more than six points against UCLA’s suffocating defense.
“We just kept trying to encourage them to attack and be the aggressor, but also make good decisions with it,” Plitzuweit said in her postgame radio interview. “Their size and their length is really, really special. … They’re probably the best offensive team and probably the best defensive team in the country. They’re No. 1 for a reason.”
After dropping the pair of contests in California, Minnesota — still pressed firmly on the NCAA tournament bubble — will return home for a pair of bouts this week, starting with Thursday’s game against Iowa after some much needed time off following the five-day road trip.
“Hopefully we take lessons from this and we grow from it, and we get a lot better because of it,” Plitzuweit said. “Now this is over. You can’t go back and you can’t change the results of it, so it can’t get you a second time. I think it has the ability to do that to teams, so that’s something we’ve really got to fight, and we’ve really got to battle.”
UCLA center Lauren Betts (51) looks to shoot over Minnesota center Sophie Hart, left, during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jayne Kamin-Oncea)
UCLA guard Kiki Rice, left, defends against Minnesota guard Amaya Battle, right, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jayne Kamin-Oncea)
Related Articles
Inside the NCAA’s pending settlement, and what it means for former and future student-athletes
Women’s basketball: Gophers dig early hole in 82-69 loss at No. 4 USC
Women’s basketball: Gophers coach Dawn Plitzuweit on success, challenges in Year 2
Gophers women’s basketball: Sophie Hart granted additional year of eligibility
Women’s basketball: Gophers change tactics in second to half to rout Wisconsin
Leave a Reply