Any questions around UCLA beginning the season ranked higher than they have been in almost three years was put to bed after their opener Monday.
The No. 4 Bruins shot 54.7 percent from the field, 46 percent from three, and out-rebounded Purdue, 40-22, en route to a 92-49 win. All five starters were in double figures, and the team scored 26 points off of turnovers. But the statistic that most impressed coach Cori Close was the number of assists her team had.
“All season long we’ve been emphasizing work ethic and selflessness…..and 29 assists on 35 made field goals speaks to the selflessness,” she said.
It was the kind of performance that Close, in her 13th year in Westwood, expects of her veteran-laden squad, which returned to the Sweet 16 last season for the first time in four years. The difference this winter, however, is that UCLA has added a center for the first time since 2018, in 6-7 Stanford transfer Lauren Betts. Her presence, as well as the return of forward Angela Dugalic, could take her program to the next level.
Against the Boilermakers, Betts scored an efficient 20 points in 20 minutes on 9-11 shooting, grabbed 7 rebounds and blocked two shots. This helped…
