No. 2 Bruins Continue Midwest Road Trip at Illinois Wednesday

Wednesday, January 28

Urbana-Champaign, IL

4 p.m. PT

UCLA

Illinois

Amanda Muse_at Northwestern (Jan. 25, 2026)

Photo by: UCLA Athletics

No. 2 Bruins Continue Midwest Road Trip at Illinois Wednesday

January 27, 2026 | Women's Basketball

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URBANA-CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – No. 2-ranked UCLA (19-1, 9-0 B1G) continues its winter road trip at Illinois (15-5, 5-4 B1G) on Wednesday.

The Bruins and Fighting Illini face off at 4 p.m. PT inside State Farm Arena; UCLA's 10^th conference game of the season will be broadcast on B1G+.

GAME INFORMATION
Venue: State Farm Arena
Location: Urbana-Champaign, Ill.
Tip-off Time: 4 p.m. PT
TV: B1G+
TV Talent: Scott Sudikoff, Cooper O'Kelly, Ella Peterson
Radio: UCLA Digital Radio; SiriusXM 210 or 196, and SiriusXM App
Radio Talent: Dave Marcus (UCLA)

MATCHUP HISTORY: vs. Illinois Fighting Illini
• UCLA trails the Illini 3-2 in the all-time series but are 2-1 since the turn of the century.
• The Bruins are 1-0 against Illinois in B1G play; UCLA took down Illinois 70-55 on Feb. 20, 2025, in the first conference meeting.

LAST TIME OUT: W, 80-46 vs. Northwestern Wildcats (Jan. 25)
• The Bruins cruised to a 34-point win in Evanston behind another efficient night from senior Gabriela Jaquez (19 PTS, 9-12 FG).
• Seniors Lauren Betts (16 PTS, 3 STL), Kiki Rice (15 PTS, 10 REB) and graduate guard Gianna Kneepkens (12 PTS) joined Jaquez in double-digit scoring. The Bruins had 15 steals and outrebounded the Wildcats 44-25 in the victory.

WHAT'S BRUIN
• UCLA opened the 2025-26 season ranked No. 3 in the Associated Press Top 25 Women's Basketball Poll, released Oct. 14. The Bruins had a number of top 15 matchups in November: No. 6 Oklahoma (Nov. 10), No. 11 North Carolina (Nov. 13), No. 4 Texas (Nov. 26) and No. 14 Tennessee (Nov. 30), finishing November 3-1 against ranked opponents.
• The Bruins began the year with six of their first eight games being played at neutral site locations. UCLA made the trip to Las Vegas twice in three weeks, first for the WBCA Challenge (Nov. 13-15) and second for the Players Era Women's Championship (Nov. 26-27). The Bruins went 3-1 in Sin City this November.
• The Big Ten boasts seven programs in the AP Top 25 for the week 12 poll: No. 2 UCLA, No. 8 Iowa, No. 9 Michigan, No. 11Ohio State, No. 13 Michigan State, No. 16 Maryland, and No. 25 Washington. Minnesota, Nebraska and Illinois received votes.
• UCLA won 23-straight games in 2024-25 - 22 were by a double-digit margin - setting the longest streak for both records in program history. UCLA's previous-best win streak came in the 1977-78 championship campaign (21 games).
• The Bruins boast 7 McDonald's All Americans on the roster: Lauren Betts, Sienna Betts, Angela Dugalić, Timea Gardiner, Gabriela Jaquez, Amanda Muse, and Kiki Rice. Jaquez and Rice shared co-MVP honors in the all-star game.
• UCLA was recognized as the USBWA National Team of the Week after going 3-0 from Nov. 10-15, which included victories over No. 6 Oklahoma and No. 11 North Carolina.
• UCLA has four players averaging double figures; the Bruin starting five totals 69.4 points per game. Six UCLA players have scored 20+ points in a game this season; the Bruins have had multiple 20+ point scorers in four games so far.
• The Bruins lead the Big Ten in FG% (.516), defensive FG% (.357 OPP FG%), assists (453 TOTAL, 22.7 APG) and assist/turnover ratio (1.76 A/TO). UCLA is also first in the conference, second in the nation in rebounding margin (+15.8 RPG), and first in the B1G in scoring margin (+30.9).
• UCLA is atop the conference in 3P% (.391), which is third in the country.
• UCLA sits second in the NET rankings with a nation-best 10 Quad 1 wins (10-1).