No. 1-Seed Bruins Open Big Ten Tournament in Quarterfinals Friday

Friday, March 6

Indianapolis, Ind.

9 a.m. PT

UCLA

Washington

Gianna Kneepkens_vs. Wisconsin (Feb. 22, 2026)

Photo by: Caren Nicdao

No. 1-Seed Bruins Open Big Ten Tournament in Quarterfinals Friday

March 05, 2026 | Women's Basketball

Game Notes (PDF)Watch (BTN)Live Stats Big Ten Tournament Central

INDIANAPOLIS – The No. 1-seed UCLA Bruins (28-1, 18-0 B1G) begin the 2026 Allstate Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament on Friday, March 6, after clinching a double-bye as a top four seed in the conference.

The top-seeded Bruins take on the winner of No. 8-seed Washington and No. 9-seed USC Friday. UCLA looks to repeat as conference tournament champions; last year's Bruins downed No. 1-seed USC in the 2025 title game to capture the first Big Ten tournament title in program history.

Friday's quarterfinal tips off at 9 a.m. PT / 12 p.m. ET on the Big Ten Network.

GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Gainbridge Fieldhouse
Location: Indianapolis, Ind.
Tip-off Time: 9 a.m. PT
TV: Big Ten Network
TV Talent: Krista Blunk, Elise Woodward, Autumn Johnson
Radio: UCLA Digital Radio; SiriusXM 139 or 195 and SiriusXM App
Radio Talent: Dave Marcus (UCLA)

MATCHUP HISTORY: vs. Washington Huskies
• UCLA holds a 42-33 advantage in the all-time series against the Washington Huskies; the Bruins have won nine-consecutive games against Washington, dating back to Feb. 7, 2021. UCLA is also 17-6 against Washington under head coach Cori Close.

MATCHUP HISTORY: vs. USC Trojans
• UCLA improved to 56-54 in the all-time series after defeating USC on Saturday, Jan. 3, and Sunday, March 1.
• The Bruins are on a 3-game win streak over the Trojans.

LAST TIME OUT: W, 73-50 at USC (March 1)
• UCLA finished the regular season with a win at rival USC, leading wire-to-wire to cap off an 18-0 record in league play.
• Graduate guard Charlisse Leger-Walker finished with a game-high 20 points (8-13 FG, 4-7 3FG), matching her season high.
• Four Bruins reached double-digit scoring Sunday; Gabriela Jaquez and Gianna Kneepkens finished with 14 points and Kiki Rice had 11 in the win. Lauren Betts finished with five points, 15 rebounds, five assists and two blocks.

CLINCH ME, I'M DREAMING
• With a win over Washington (Feb. 19), UCLA claimed a share of the B1G regular season title; it marked the first time the Bruins earned a share of the regular season title since 1998-99, when they shared the Pac-10 title with Oregon (15-3).
• The Bruins won the conference outright with a win against Wisconsin (Feb. 22); it was the first time in program history that UCLA has made sole claim of the regular season championship.

JOIN THE CONFERENCE CALL!
• The Bruins finished conference play 18-0, amassing their most wins in a conference season (prev. high: 15, 2024-25).
• UCLA becomes the fourth team in conference history to have a perfect conference regular season and the first since the 2014-15 Maryland Terrapins (others were 1999 Purdue, 1985 Ohio State).
• The Bruins defeated conference opponents by an average of 25.2 points per game, winning all but two conference matchups by double digits. UCLA survived major road tests at No. 19 Ohio State in late December and at No. 8 Michigan on Feb. 8.

B1G PLAYERS, B1G AWARDS
• The Bruins claimed four of the five individual conference awards in a Los Angeles sweep of the Big Ten postseason honors.
• Senior Lauren Betts earned Player of the Year and repeated as Defensive Player of the Year; she became the first player in conference history to earn both POTY and DPOY in the same season. She was also a unanimous selection for All-Big Ten First Team (Coaches + Media) and the only unanimous selection on either Big Ten All-Defensive teams (Coaches, unanimous + Media).
• Graduate forward Angela Dugalić was named Sixth Player of the Year for her contributions off the bench.
• Head Coach Cori Close led her program to a perfect 18-0 in conference play, earning her Coach of the Year honors for 2025-26.
• Senior Kiki Rice joined her center on the All-Big Ten First Team (Coaches + Media) and Big Ten All-Defensive Team (Coaches). The point guard was a unanimous selection for both coaches and media First Teams, one of four unanimous honorees on both teams.
• Gabriela Jaquez and Gianna Kneepkens earned all-conference recognitions for their work on the court; Jaquez was All-Big Ten Second Team (Coaches + Media) as UCLA's third-leading scorer. Kneepkens joined her on the All-Big Ten Second Team (Media) and was recognized with an Honorable Mention nod by the conference coaches.
• Sienna Betts was included on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team; she averaged 6.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game in 19 regular season contests.
• Graduate guard Charlisse Leger-Walker was recognized as UCLA's Sportsmanship Honoree.

WHAT'S BRUIN
• UCLA have 10 ranked wins this season, seven of which have come in B1G play. The Bruins have a +19.6 margin of victory in ranked wins and league-leading +28.3 margin overall (5th in NCAA, 1st in B1G).
• The Big Ten boasts seven programs in the AP Top 25 for the week 17 poll: No. 2 UCLA, No. 8 Michigan, No. 9 Iowa, No. 11 Ohio State, No. 14 Maryland, No. 18 Michigan State, No. 19 Minnesota. Washington and Illinois received votes.
• The 2025-26 Bruins have won 22-straight games since faltering against No. 4 Texas on Nov. 26.
• 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).
• UCLA has four players averaging double figures: L. Betts (16.3), K. Rice (15.2), G. Jaquez (14.1) and G. Kneepkens (13.2). Angela Dugalić (9.0) and Charlisse Leger-Walker (9.0) are just outside of the double-digit mark.
• The Bruin starting five totals 67.8 points per game, accounting for 79.4% of scoring for UCLA. 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 assist/turnover ratio (1.72 A/TO), assists (641 TOTAL, 22.1 APG), FG% (.510), defensive FG% (.361 OPP FG%). UCLA is also first in the conference (2nd NCAA) in rebounding margin (+15.8 RPG), first in rebounds (43.0 RPG) and first in the B1G in scoring margin (+28.5).
• UCLA is second in the conference in 3P% (.376), which is sixth in the country.
• UCLA sits second in the NET rankings with a nation-best 14 Quad 1 wins (14-1).
• Four Bruins have been named to the Mid-Season Top 10 lists for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and WBCA Starting 5 awards: Kiki Rice (Lieberman), Gianna Kneepkens (Meyers Drysdale), Gabriela Jaquez (Miller) and Lauren Betts (Leslie).
• Lauren Betts was named to the Wooden Award Late Midseason Top 20 on Feb. 10, but point guard Kiki Rice (who was named to the top 25) was omitted on the updated watch list. They both made the Naismith Trophy POTY Late Season Team on Feb. 17.
• For the first time in program history (data going back to 1999-2000), UCLA had seven Bruins in double figures against Indiana on Feb. 15: K. Rice (17), L. Betts (16), G. Kneepkens (12), C. Leger-Walker (12), G. Jaquez (11), S. Betts (10), L. Bilic (10).
• 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.