BLOOMINGTON — IU women’s basketball simply had no answer for UCLA’s Lauren Betts in a 73-62 loss at Assembly Hall on Saturday afternoon.
The 6-7 forward scored a game-high 25 points (12-of-16) with 12 rebounds, three assists and two blocks to help the No. 1 team in the country win its 15th straight game. The Bruins (15-0, 4-0 Big Ten) opened the day as one of just seven remaining unbeaten teams in the country.
The Hoosiers (10-4, 2-1 Big Ten) dropped to 0-6 all-time against the nation’s No. 1 team.
This was the first time the Hoosiers hosted the top-ranked team at Assembly Hall since 1993-94 (a 70-65 loss to Penn State). Last year, they lost to top-ranked South Carolina in the Sweet 16 of the 2024 NCAA tournament.
Indiana couldn’t cut UCLA’s lead to single digits in the fourth quarter until the final minute of the game.
The Hoosiers’ off-shooting day made it hard for the them to close the gap with Betts giving UCLA automatic offense. After averaging 10.0 made 3-pointers on 44% shooting over its past four games, IU was just 4-of-20 from 3-point range and 2-of-9 in the second half as a team and its top shooter Yarden Garzon was just 1-of-8.
The ball movement that had been a hallmark of IU’s recent success also went missing. The Hoosiers only had seven assists on 21 field goals after averaging 23.2 assists during their six-game win streak in December.
Garzon still led IU in scoring with 17 points as one of three players in double-digits alongside Chloe Moore-McNeil (12 points) and Shay Ciezki (11).
IU women’s basketball stumbles in second quarter vs UCLA
Indiana ended the first quarter on a 9-0 run to make it a one-possession game after trailing by as many as 11 points, but that momentum was short-lived.
The Hoosiers didn’t score any points in the second quarter until Garzon split a pair of free throws with 2:56 to go until the half — she hadn’t missed a free-throw attempt all season (30 attempts) — and it was almost another full minute before Karoline Striplin scored their first field goal of the quarter.
They faced a 33-21 deficit at the half after going 2-of-11 as a team with seven turnovers in the quarter.
IU women’s basketball faces off against the refs
Indiana struggled nearly as much with the officiating as it did UCLA throughout the half. The officials called an incredibly tight game and that was a challenge for IU’s bigs trying to defend Betts.
There were also a series of other questionable calls when IU had the ball — the Hoosiers were called for three moving screens in the first half — that disrupted their rhythm.
During a timeout midway through the first quarter, IU coach Teri Moren calmly vented some of her frustration to the officials over the calls. She wasn’t as reserved when she sought them out for a follow-up conversation in the second quarter as the foul trouble mounted for her team.
Moren had to be pulled back to the huddle by Sydney Parrish after going off on the refs as the crowd at Assembly Hall cheered her on. Striplin and Parrish both fouled out of the game in the fourth quarter.
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.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Lauren Betts leads No. 1 UCLA women’s basketball past Indiana
