Meet The Opponent: No. 1 UCLA Is One Of The Best Teams Indiana Women’s Basketball Has Ever Faced

No. 1 UCLA is tall, deep, and has no glaring weaknesses. Indiana will try to be the first team this season to defeat the Bruins on Saturday.

UCLA Bruins center Lauren Betts (51) and South Carolina Gamecocks guard Tessa Johnson (5) during the third quarter at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. / Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – One of the joys of attending games at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall are the quality opponents that come calling once Big Ten Conference play begins.

As far as women’s basketball is concerned, when No. 1 UCLA visits for a noon ET tip-off on Saturday, the Bruins might be one of the best women’s basketball teams to ever come to Bloomington.

It’s not just the 14-0 record or the fact that the Bruins have only had one team – Louisville – come within 10 points of beating them.

UCLA ranks in the top 20 nationally in eight major offensive statistical categories: 2-point field goal percentage (58.3%, 2nd nationally), field goal percentage (50%, 4th), rebounds per game (46.9, 4th), assists per game (21.1, 4th), 2-point field goals per game (25.9, 4th), field goals made per game (32.9, 8th), defensive rebounds per game (31.3, 8th) and points per game (83.6, 15th).

The Bruins also rank in the top 20 in seven different defensive categories: rebounds allowed per game (27.9, 1st), defensive rebounds allowed (18.4, 1st), 2-point field percentage against (34.3%, 2nd), field goal defense (31.9%, 3rd), 2-point field goals per game allowed (12.6, 4th), field goals allowed (18.8, 9th) and points allowed (52.3, 9th).

UCLA’s excellence in most of those categories can be traced to formidable junior center Lauren Betts. The 6-foot-7 Betts is a dominant force as she’s averaged 19.3 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. She’s a supreme rim protector at 2.2 blocks. Think of her impact as you might think of how influential Zach Edey was for Purdue in the men’s game.

She’s just one piece of the riddle Indiana must solve. In addition to Betts, the Bruins have three more players who are 6-foot-3 or taller. The only UCLA player in its rotation that isn’t at least 5-foot-10 is guard Londynn Jones.

UCLA proved how good they can be when they hammered previous No. 1 South Carolina 77-62 on Nov. 24 at Pauley Pavilion. Based on what these Bruins have accomplished so far, they rank as one of the best and most complete women’s teams Indiana has faced on its home court or anywhere else.

Here's a breakdown of the No. 1 UCLA Bruins.

Key players

UCLA Bruins guard Kiki Rice (1) during the third quarter against the Creighton Bluejays at Chase Center. / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

• C Lauren Betts: 19.3 ppg, 9.8 rpg

• G Kiki Rice: 13.3 ppg, 3 rpg, 4 apg

• F Gabriela Jaquez: 10.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 2.6 apg

• F Janiah Barker: 9.6 ppg, 7.6 rpg

• F Angela Dugalic: 9.5 ppg, 7.1 rpg

• F Timea Gardiner: 9.1 ppg, 4.2 rpg

• G Londynn Jones: 7.9 ppg

• G Elina Aarnisalo 7.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 4.9 apg

2024-25 Schedule (14-0, 3-0)

• W, 66-59. Louisville, Nov. 4 – Paris, France

• W, 81-63, Colgate, Nov. 10

• W, 91-54, Pepperdine, Nov. 12

• W, 101-52, Arkansas, Nov. 17

• W, 77-62, South Carolina, Nov. 24

• W, 97-37, Tennessee-Martin, Nov. 29 – Rainbow Wahine Showdown

• W, 97-41, Fresno State, Nov. 30 – Rainbow Wahine Showdown

• W, 70-49, Hawaii, Dec. 1 – Rainbow Wahine Showdown

• W, 73-62, at Washington, Dec. 8

• W, 102-51, at Long Beach State, Dec. 14

• W, 69-37, Cal Poly, Dec. 16

• W, 70-41, Creighton, Dec. 20 – Invisalign Bay Area Women’s Classic at San Francisco

• W, 91-54, Nebraska, Dec. 29

• W, 86-70, Michigan, Jan. 1

Strengths

UCLA Bruins forward Angela Dugalic (32) during the fourth quarter against the Creighton Bluejays at Chase Center. / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Where do you start? Betts’ supreme talents have already been mentioned, but she’s far from the only elite-level contributor for the Bruins.

Like Betts, point guard Kiki Rice was an All-Pac 12 first team selection in the 2023-24 season. Rice (13.3 ppg) is the outside scorer to Betts’ inside production. Considered to be one of the better point guards in the country, Rice is averaging 4 assists per game. She’s joined by freshman Elina Aarnisalo, who is averaging more assists at 4.9 per game. UCLA starts both of them.

From there, UCLA overwhelms teams with their size. The forward quartet of Angela Dugalic (6-foot-4), Texas A&M transfer Janiah Barker (6-4), Oregon State transfer Timea Gardiner (6-4) and Gabriela Jaquez (5-11) create matchup hell for opponents. At least one of them is on the floor at almost all times. That quartet combines for 38.9 points and 23.8 rebounds per game.

Much of UCLA’s 3-point attack comes from those forwards as well. Gardiner (42.4%) and Dugalic (39.3%) are the most dangerous shooters.

Defensively, UCLA is elite. Dugalic leads the nation in defensive box plus-minus with a whopping plus-11.3. She averages 1.9 steals per game, a nice complement to Betts’ 2.2 blocks per game at the rim.

Weaknesses

As one might imagine from an undefeated No. 1 team, there is nothing that sticks out as something that would be easily exploited. UCLA does foul a lot as they average 15.3 fouls per game. UCLA is also a bit heavy in turnovers at 16 per game.

Strangely, given the presence of Betts and so many other frontcourt standouts, the Bruins don’t go to the line very often. UCLA averages 15.1 attempts per game, ranked 251st nationally.

Season and game outlook

UCLA Bruins guard Elina Aarnisalo (7) drives to the basket as Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Amiah Hargrove (33) moves in to defend during the third quarter at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. / Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

It’s a big early battle at the top of the Big Ten as both teams are unbeaten in conference play. UCLA has dispatched a good Washington team on the road and beaten Nebraska and No. 24 Michigan in Los Angeles. Indiana won at Penn State and routed Wisconsin at home Saturday.

UCLA obviously wants to keep its unbeaten season going. A win for Indiana would be its seventh straight and would be a huge boost in every respect. It would place Indiana in the penthouse of the Big Ten and provide a huge win on the NCAA Tournament resume.

Indiana is 2-1 against ranked teams so far with wins over then-No. 24 Stanford (79-66 on Nov. 17) and then-No. 18 Baylor (73-65 on Nov. 24 in Battle 4 Atlantis). However, UCLA is an entirely different level of quality in comparison to those teams.

UCLA’s depth prevents a team from trying a gimmick defense to try to stop Betts. If you double or even triple-team her, the rest of UCLA’s cast is more than capable of taking advantage.

It will obviously be a huge defensive test for Indiana’s post players Lilly Meister and Karoline Striplin. Yarden Garzon will likely have to have a defensive role in the paint as well. All are 6-foot-3 and the biggest bodies the Hoosiers can throw at the Bruins.

Chloe Moore-McNeil will have to be at her defensive best to keep Rice or Aarnisalo limited. Same for Sydney Parrish, likely against one of the forward quartet UCLA brings to bear.

Indiana is going to have to shoot extremely well, especially from beyond the arc. Since the Hoosiers returned from their Battle 4 Atlantis trip in November, they’ve converted a very good 42% of their 3-point shots in six games. That needs to continue.

It’s going to be an uphill battle for the Hoosiers, but most of the players on the roster have experience in facing a No. 1 team. Indiana faced top-ranked South Carolina last season in the NCAA Tournament. A blowout was predicted by many, but the Hoosiers demonstrated their toughness in whittling a 22-point deficit down to a single point before the Gamecocks escaped with a 79-75 victory.

That kind of effort will be necessary once more against the Bruins.

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• WHAT MOREN SAID: What Indiana head coach Teri Moren said after the Hoosiers defeated Wisconsin. CLICK HERE.

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