Saturday, January 3
Los Angeles, Calif.
5 p.m. PT
UCLA
14-1,4-0Big Ten
80
vs
46
USC
10-4,2-1Big Ten
1
2
3
4
F
Southern California
16
12
12
6
46
UCLA
16
27
22
15
80
Photo by: Caren Nicdao
No. 4 UCLA Wins Big against Crosstown Rival USC, 80-46
January 03, 2026 | Women's Basketball
LOS ANGELES – No. 4 UCLA (14-1, 4-0 B1G) prevailed in round one of the crosstown showdowns against No. 17 USC (10-4, 2-1 B1G) with an 80-46 win at home Saturday.
Senior Lauren Betts earned her fifth double-double of the season with 18 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, and three blocks. Graduate student Gianna Kneepkens added 15 points, six rebounds, and five assists of her own. Senior Kiki Rice finished with 14 points, a team-high nine assists, and two rebounds; the trio was joined by senior Gabriela Jaquez in double-digits, who scored 12 points to go with her six rebounds and one assist.
UCLA doubled up USC as the Trojans shot only 27 percent from the field; the Bruins finished shooting 54 percent. UCLA led 46-26 in rebounds – holding USC to a season low – and outscored the Trojans 42-10 in the paint. UCLA also held a 24-10 advantage in assists, 10-5 in steals, and 6-4 in blocks.
UCLA has scored 30+ points in the paint in every game this season.
Kneepkens started the scoring for the Bruins, tying the game up 3-3 with an outside completion. Graduate student Charlisse Leger-Walker follows her lead on the next possession, hitting a three from the same spot to put UCLA up 6-3. The Bruins immediately force a bad-pass turnover on the other side, starting with a strong defensive front.
With 6:35 left in the quarter, graduate student Angela Dugalić snagged the defensive rebound and found Rice crossing the court, who threw the ball to Leger-Walker to drive inside for the layup. Lauren Betts drew the foul on the next possession, adding another point to give the Bruins a 9-6 lead. Freshman Sienna Betts made her presence known early, stealing the ball with 3:58 left that converted to a Leger-Walker layup. One minute later, Kneepkens found Lauren Betts in the paint for a layup to put the Bruins up 13-11. Kneepkens got the steal on the next play, another flash foreshadowing the Bruins' dominance on defense. Jaquez drew a foul on the last possession of the quarter for UCLA, hitting two free throws to tie the game.
The Bruins entered the second tied 16-16. Lauren Betts led the team with six points and three rebounds, followed closely by Leger-Walker's five points and three rebounds.
A quick rack attack puts us back on ??
— UCLA Women's Basketball (@UCLAWBB) January 4, 2026
??: @peacock #GoBruins | @giannakneepkens x @laurenbetts12 pic.twitter.com/gskP6FXScX
Lauren Betts continued her offensive spark by hitting a shot over two defenders to tie the game 18-18 at the beginning of the second. A threat on both sides of the ball, Lauren Betts made a defensive play immediately after, blocking a USC player to get the Bruins the ball back. Shortly after, Dugalić gained momentum, hitting back-to-back shots to put UCLA up 22-18. After Kneepkens drew the foul and converted three free throw shots, Jaquez hit a difficult jumper in traffic. Rice recorded a block on the other side of the ball, which turned into a Lauren Betts basket. After snagging an offensive rebound, Lauren Betts blocked the follow-up attempt and found Kneepkens, who hit a contested three-pointer to give UCLA a 34-26 lead.
The Bruins forced two back-to-back USC turnovers, keeping USC scoreless on its drive. Kneepkens grabbed a UCLA offensive rebound on the other side, where Leger-Walker then hit a three to force a USC timeout and put UCLA up 39-26. First possession out of the timeout, Kneepkens hit a two-point stepback jumper with 1:15 left in the half. After USC made its first basket in over four minutes, Rice drove across the court to finish a layup and close the quarter.
The Bruins held a 43-28 point lead going into the second half. UCLA went 16-2 over the final 4:52 of the second quarter, allowing USC to hit only one field goal in their last 10 attempts. Kneepkens paved the way for the Bruins in the first half, accounting for 21 of UCLA's 43 first-quarter points in scoring and assists, including eight second-quarter points of her own.
Lauren Betts followed closely after with 12 points, three rebounds, two blocks, and two assists in the half.
Threepkens getting active! ????
— UCLA Women's Basketball (@UCLAWBB) January 4, 2026
??: @peacock #GoBruins | @laurenbetts12 x @Char_legerwalks pic.twitter.com/e71mbTNG1h
Rice and Leger-Walker teamed up on the defensive front to start the third, forcing a USC travel on their first possession. Betts then grabbed an offensive rebound on the other side of the ball, converting the second-chance hook shot jumper to put UCLA up by 17. Rice dominated in the third, euro stepping around a defender to hit the layup with 8:40 left to go. She found Kneepkens on the next possession, who hit a fallaway jumper. Lauren Betts continued on her defensive prowess, stealing the ball from former UCLA player Londynn Jones on their next possession.
With 7:16 left, Rice bounced off a defender to drive down the hole and finish the bankshot basket, giving the Bruins the 51-32 lead. The Betts sisters put in a dual effort midway through the third, with Sienna Betts grabbing the steal and Lauren Betts finishing the basket for two on the other end. After assisting Lauren Betts for that basket, Kiki Rice switched with Lauren Betts, hitting the pull-up jumper off Lauren Betts' dime. Freshman Lena Bilić brought the energy, hitting a shifty layup at the 3:50 mark. After a USC basket, Rice drove to the hoop and found Jaquez from under the basket, who finished the layup. After a timeout, Leger-Walker found Kneepkens moving to the hoop with 1:39 left, who added two more for UCLA. Lauren Betts closed the quarter with her third block of the game.
UCLA finished the third quarter up 65-40, with Rice shooting perfectly for six points and four assists in the period. The Bruins kept USC at 27 percent shooting from the field, while UCLA shot 63 percent. The home court Bruins hit six of their last eight field goals and held USC to making two out of their last eight.
Nahhhhhhhhh ??
— UCLA Women's Basketball (@UCLAWBB) January 4, 2026
??: @peacock #GoBruins | @laurenbetts12 pic.twitter.com/OkeIxdmBp3
With USC having a three on one fast break opportunity early in the fourth, Leger-Walker made the block to continue the Bruins' impressive defensive statement. After a scoreless first 2:30 from both sides, Lauren Betts got the action going with a layup in the paint. Midway into the quarter, the Betts duo hit again, with Lauren Betts finding Sienna Betts for an easy two-point layup. Shortly after, Rice drove through three defenders to finish a contested layup and force the USC timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Sienna Betts recorded her fourth steal of the game, which led to a Jaquez fast break layup on the other side of the court.
UCLA recorded two more steals in the quarter, with the fourth concluding with a Rice jumper with 17 seconds left.
Gonna need more than a 3-on-1, Char got ups ????
— UCLA Women's Basketball (@UCLAWBB) January 4, 2026
??: @peacock #GoBruins | @Char_legerwalks pic.twitter.com/QwwAg1WMda
UP NEXT: at No. 20 Nebraska (Jan. 11)
The Bruins begin their next conference road trip with another ranked matchup against No. 20 Nebraska. The game is set to tip off at 4 p.m. PT on the Big Ten Network.
Team Stats
USC
UCLA
FG%
.270
.526
3FG%
.333
.364
FT%
.500
.842
RB
26
46
TO
14
17
STL
5
10
Game Leaders
Pts
18
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
12
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Players Mentioned
C
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
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