The No. 2 UCLA women’s basketball team extended its win streak to 20 games and clinched the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament Thursday night.
The Bruins beat Washington 82-67 at Pauley Pavilion. Lauren Betts scored a game-high 23 points and was one of five UCLA players to finish with double-figure scoring, while Washington freshman Brynn McGaughy recorded the second-highest point total of her college career with 19.
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With the exception of Gianna Kneepkens, who was three-of-four from three-point range and scored 17 points, UCLA (26-1, 16-0 Big Ten) struggled from beyond the arc against the Huskies, shooting 26.7% — below its season’s average of 38.2%.
Washington (19-8, 9-7) had four players who scored six points during the first half, while UCLA’s Betts and Angela Dugalic led the way with 14 and eight points, respectively.
Read more: No. 2 UCLA wins its 19th straight game with thrashing of Indiana
The Bruins led the Huskies 22-12 after the first quarter and extended that lead to 42-29 by halftime, leading by as much as 19 midway through the second quarter.
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The Bruins nearly doubled up the Huskies on rebounds, with 37 to their opponent’s 20.
McGaughy went on a run for the Huskies in the third quarter, scoring 10 points in a row for her team, en route to the Huskies’ highest-scoring quarter of the game to that point with 19. But the Bruins still won the quarter, adding two points to their lead.
UCLA has two regular-season games remaining, playing its home finale against Wisconsin at 2:30 p.m. Sunday and against rival USC on March 1.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
