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Los Angeles – Lauren Betts had season highs of 24 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks, and No. 4 UCLA routed Oregon 80-59 in the teams’ Big Ten opener Sunday, knocking the Ducks from the unbeaten ranks.
Gianna Kneepkens added 17 points for the Bruins (9-1, 1-0), who beat the Ducks for the sixth straight time while topping 80 points for the sixth time this season.
Ehis Etute had 14 points and nine rebounds off the bench and Katie Fiso added 14 points for the Ducks (10-1, 0-1). They off were to the program’s best start since 2015-16 when they opened 11-0 and were just one of four 10-0 teams nationally going into the weekend.
But UCLA had the Ducks on their heels from the opening tip. The Bruins opened the game with six straight points and had 19 rebounds while leading 19-8 and limiting the Ducks to 3 of 18 shooting.
The Bruins poured it on with a 10-2 run to open the second quarter. Betts had four points and Lena Bilic hit two 3-pointers. Bilic’s third 3-pointer pushed UCLA’s lead to 26 just before halftime, when the Bruins led 49-26.
Early in the third, the Bruins took a 27-point lead — their largest of the game — on a pair of free throws by Kiki Rice and closed the period on a 6-0 spurt for a 65-40 lead.
Etute and Fiso did almost all of the Ducks’ scoring in the fourth, when Betts scored five in a row before leaving in the closing minutes.
UCLA dominated the boards 52-29, controlled the paint 40-28, and dished out 22 assists.
