Indiana women’s basketball: What to know about Hoosiers’ game against top-ranked UCLA

Posted by Admin January 3, 2025 Basketball

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BLOOMINGTON — The Indiana women’s basketball team found its footing in December, but can that momentum survive a showdown against the top team in the country?

The Hoosiers (10-3; 2-0 Big Ten) will host No. 1 UCLA on Saturday at noon in just the fourth-ever meeting between the programs that most recently played a home-and-home series in 2018-19.

They are about to become better acquainted with the Bruins (14-0; 3-0) joining the Big Ten this year.

Top-ranked UCLA women’s basketball having historic season

UCLA’s first-ever No. 1 ranking is well-earned.

The Bruins are undefeated, with an average margin of victory of 30-plus points and a resume with three wins over ranked opponents. The most notable of those came back in November when they knocked off then-No. 1 South Carolina, 77-62, in a game that wasn’t all that competitive.

It was another milestone for the program — its first win over a number one ranked opponent after previously going 0-20 in those matchups — and also ended the defending national champion’s 43-game win streak.

UCLA women’s basketball upgraded its roster in a big way through the transfer portal

Indiana coach Teri Moren spoke briefly about facing UCLA after her team’s 83-52 win over Wisconsin. She had yet to watch film of the Bruins, but one look at the roster highlighted the challenge they present.

“Cori (Close) and her staff have done a good job of increasing their depth in the portal,” Moren said. “They have a lot of different weapons, depth off the bench.”

Those weapons include former All-Conference transfers Timea Gardiner (Oregon State) and Janiah Barker (Texas A&M).

Gardiner, who won Pac-12 Sixth Player of the Year honors in 2023-24, helped Oregon State reach the Elite Eight. The 6-foot-3 forward averaged 11.6 points and 7.0 rebounds per game while shooting 39.5% from 3-point range.

She’s near the top in the Big Ten this year in 3-point shooting (42.4%).

UCLA’s star center, Lauren Betts, is a former transfer as well. She signed with the Bruins after spending her freshman year in 2022-23 at Stanford. She ranks third nationally in scoring, 19.3 points per game, and fourth in rebounding (9.8 per game).

UCLA women’s standout point guard Kiki Rice sets a gold standard

UCLA’s starting point guard, Kiki Rice, is one of the most dynamic players in the game. The former Naismith Prep Player of the Year in 2022 has been a starter for the Bruins since the minute she stepped on campus.

She’s averaging 13.0 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game this season after missing her team’s first three games with a minor injury.

Moren is plenty familiar with Rice from having coached her multiple times for Team USA basketball. Rice won gold medals at the 2022 FIBA Under-18 Women’s Americas Championship and the 2023 FIBA U19 Women’s World Cup while Moren was an assistant on the staff.

UCLA coach Cori Close wants to see more urgency from her team at Assembly Hall

UCLA beat Michigan 86-70 on New Year’s Day, but Close wasn’t thrilled with her team’s effort, and she let them hear about it.

“I thought they out-toughed us tonight and we may have more talent pieces and may have won the game, but they won the toughness, togetherness battle and I told our team we didn’t win enough teamwork plays — transition D, 50-50s, rebounding, executing the scouting report, bench energy,” Close said. “It wasn’t one of our better games, so we have an immense amount of talent but we have to decide whether we want to win individual games or we want to become a championship team and that’s a decision we have to make right away.”

She laid out a challenge for the Bruins ahead of their swing through Indiana with games against IU and Purdue. Last season, the Bruins dropped four of seven after winning their first 14 games.

“I think it’s going to force us to be like, you want to keep winning?” Close said. “You better buck up because you go into Bloomington with that level of urgency and concentration [that UCLA showed against the Wolverines], we’re going to get beat.”

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.