UCLA flexes its No. 1 ranking muscles  

HONOLULU – UCLA Women’s Basketball (8-0, 0-0) claimed victory over Hawai’i (5-2, 0-0 Big West) in the final game of the Rainbow Wahine Showdown Sunday to remain undefeated on the season.

Junior Kiki Rice led the way for UCLA, shooting .700/.500/1.000 in the championship game. The point guard finished with 21 points, two rebounds, two steals and a block. Juniors Lauren Betts (18) and Gabriela Jaquez (11 points, 5-for-6 FG) joined Rice in double figures. The Bruins came away with a 70-49 victory over host Hawai’i.

UCLA dominated the boards again, winning the rebound battle 44-26 on the night.

Betts won the tip for the third-straight game and was rewarded with a paint touch; the center scored on the first possession. Rice followed up the first Bruin bucket by converting an and-one layup. The point guard got another layup after stealing the ball; UCLA led 7-0 going into the first media break.

The Bruin center got another bucket and two free throws to fall to extend UCLA’s lead, 11-3, four minutes into the period. Timea Gardiner and Elina Aarnisalo got on the board with a pair of scores at the rim. Betts secured the final basket of the quarter after Rice found her down low; the Bruins led by 11 heading into the second quarter.

Neither team could get an offensive rhythm to start the second period. The Rainbow Wahine secured their first points off a pair of free throws two minutes into quarter. Jaquez elevated to put back a missed jumper, finishing on the right side of the rim after catching the offensive board. Rice got to the rack for a layup near the halfway mark, but Hawai’i answered with a three to force a Bruin timeout. UCLA led 22-17 at the media break (2Q, 5:06).

Rice was the first Bruin in double figures, knocking down a triple for her fifth basket of the night. She earned a pair of free throws with under two minutes to go. Hawai’i connected on back-to-back triples to get within two. UCLA had the final possession of the half; Rice found Angela Dugali? on the block with a mismatch. The Serbian forward got fouled hard by two crashing opponents and was sent to the charity stripe. She knocked down the first before UCLA was called for a lane violation, forfeiting the second attempt. The Bruins led 32-29 at the break.

After a Rainbow Wahine layup, UCLA collected itself for three-straight buckets. Betts laid it in to get into double figures; Aarnisalo knocked down a jumper and assisted Jaquez on a three-pointer to get UCLA back up by 10. Jaquez continued to crash the glass and got another put-back push shot to go. Barker jumped a passing lane and got a free layup; the junior put her defender in the spin cycle on the next possession to get UCLA’s lead up to 13 with 4:22 on the clock.

The Bruins continued to attack. Rice knocked down her second 3-pointer in three attempts, and two Bruin vets got a pair of free throws to go. Dugali? hit a turnaround jumper in the paint to give UCLA its largest lead of the game, 19, with under thirty seconds on the clock. Hawai’i answered with a layup before the buzzer; UCLA led 56-39 going into the fourth.

Betts scored on the opening possession of the final frame before getting whacked two plays later; the center went 1-for-2 from the line to give UCLA an 18-point advantage. Betts got fouled again on the next trip down the court and cashed in both free throws.

Aarnisalo got out on the break and had an impressive wraparound pass to hit Jaquez in stride; the Bruin junior finished with her left hand past her defender in transition. Rice got a friendly roll on a midrange jump shot just after the halfway mark in the fourth before knocking down a pair of free throws to extend UCLA’s lead to 22. 

The Bruins coasted in the final two minutes to claim its eighth-straight victory, the third in three days.