UCLA Enjoys Assembly Hall Experience as First Big Ten Basketball Newcomer

UCLA was the first former Pac-12 school to play at Indiana in basketball, and despite some travel issues the Bruins relished their first time at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

UCLA's Kiki Rice (1) drives on Indiana's Chloe Moore-McNeil (22) at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – It’s a new year in the Big Ten, and Indiana women’s basketball experienced those changes for the first time Saturday afternoon.

The Hoosiers hosted No. 1 UCLA, the first basketball team from the old Pac-12 Conference – men’s or women’s – to play at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall as a member of the Big Ten. The conference expanded to 18 teams this school year, adding UCLA, USC, Washington and Oregon.

Though unliked by some, expansion has created a more competitive Big Ten early on. Oregon won the conference title in football. The Ducks also rank ninth in men’s basketball, and UCLA is ranked No. 15. UCLA is the nation’s top-ranked women’s team, and USC is close behind at No. 4. 

Following her team’s 73-62 win over Indiana, UCLA coach Cori Close began her opening statement by recognizing the 11,528 fans in attendance and the media for covering the growing sport.

“The state of Indiana is just such a passionate state for basketball in general, and it just means a lot,” Close said. “You guys have done a great job telling their stories. And what a great-energy crowd out there. Appreciate you all being here.”

Cross-country travel is a big factor for the Big Ten newcomers. UCLA played its first Big Ten road game Dec. 8 at Washington, but Saturday’s game in Bloomington was its first against a traditional Big Ten school. 

The Bruins already encountered travel issues. Close explained that UCLA flew in Friday but had a bus transportation problem Saturday, turning a six-minute drive into about 45 minutes. They did not let that ruin their first trip to Assembly Hall. 

“We have a phrase in our program that you have to choose to get to neutral all the time,” Close said postgame. “And the bottom line is that’s what we kept saying as we got off the bus, is we’re gonna choose neutral. What’s our next right step? Not getting in our way.”

The Big Ten is helping teams like UCLA by scheduling its next game Tuesday at Purdue, about a two-hour drive from Indiana’s campus. Likewise, Indiana’s games at Oregon and Washington are scheduled on a Friday and Monday in late January. 

While game preparation is no different, Close thinks travel plans will be a work in progress over the years as UCLA adjusts to life in a new conference. 

“There’s gonna be a learning curve with all of these things, and trying to learn, okay, do we like when we came in? Next time, do we want to adjust that? Do we want to come in two days before? But that creates a really long road trip,” Close said. 

“But obviously with a noon game, the noon tip is tough, except because we practice at 9 a.m. every day. But you have to get up so much earlier for your pregame meal and for all the other things. So I think we’re gonna have to evaluate that every single trip and try to see how did our team respond and find that rhythm. I think it’s gonna be an adventure, and I think it’s gonna be, we’re gonna have to just go, ‘Hey, how was this for us?’ And each year try to make little, small pivots. We’re thrilled to be in the Big Ten, and we want to make this a great experience for our players, but also just the game environment in general. We want to grow our game.”

Going into the game, Close challenged her team to win in a gritty way, not a pretty way. She was impressed by UCLA’s growth in that area. Indiana coach Teri Moren said Indiana is usually tagged as a physical team, but she thought UCLA was really physical today.

The second quarter went a long way in deciding UCLA’s 11-point win as it outscored the Hoosiers 15-5. Just one point separated the teams in the other three quarters. Moren thought UCLA’s defense sped up Indiana’s offense, which made just 2-of-11 field goals in the second quarter and missed all four 3-point attempts. 

Close thought UCLA’s defense got into a rhythm with what Indiana was trying to do offensively, in that the Bruins guarded a variety of screens well and forced tough shots near the end of the shot clock. Close credited UCLA center Lauren Betts for her role in that area, and Indiana could not do much to stop her on the other end as she finished with 25 points on 12-for-16 shooting and 12 rebounds. 

Kiki Rice has been a starting guard for UCLA the last three seasons, but this marks her first in the Big Ten. She finished second among Bruins with 12 points in Friday’s game, one she had been looking forward to because of the venue.

“This was definitely one of the places I was very excited to come to and play at,” Rice said. “Assembly Hall is obviously a super historical basketball arena. When we came out there for warmups and when the game started, it’s just like an electric environment and the energy was great. So it was kind of fun, and I think sometimes, even more so than at home, it’s sometimes fun to play on the road in front of a ton of fans who aren’t rooting for you. But it’s always good to get that win. But I had a fun time here.”

Related stories on Indiana basketball

• INDIANA-UCLA GAME STORY: Poor second quarter, lack of 3-point shooting, UCLA star Lauren Betts keeps Indiana from pulling off upset. CLICK HERE

• WHAT MOREN SAID: Here's the full transcript of coach Teri Moren's postgame press conference after Indiana women's basketball lost 73-62 to No. 1 UCLA Saturday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. CLICK HERE