Lauren Betts leads No. 2 UCLA past Illinois despite foul trouble
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Lauren Betts overcame early foul trouble to score 23 points and pull down nine rebounds, leading the second-ranked UCLA women’s basketball team to an 80-67 victory over Illinois on Wednesday night.
Betts, the Bruins’ 6-foot-7 AP All-American center, picked up her second and third fouls – the latter on a technical foul – with 1:29 left in the first quarter.
She sat out the rest of the first quarter and the second quarter, returned to the court after halftime, and ended up playing nearly 24 minutes. She had just six points at halftime.
Angela Dugalic scored 12 points for UCLA (20-1 overall, 10-0 Big Ten), which won its 14th consecutive game. Gabriela Jaquez had 11 points, and Kiki Rice, Gianna Kneepkens and Sienna Betts – Lauren’s sister – each added 10.
Cearah Parchment had a career-high 26 points and seven rebounds for Illinois (15-6, 5-5) before fouling out with 36 seconds left. She shot 10 for 13 from the field.
Destiny Jackson had 15 points and six assists, Maddie Webber scored 12 points and Berry Wallace had 11 for the Illini.
Illinois, which played without injured Gretchen Dolan, has lost five of seven after an 11-game winning streak.
UCLA led 45-31 at halftime. Illinois cut the lead to five points twice in the third quarter, but didn’t get any closer.
The Bruins won despite shooting just 1 for 10 from 3-point range. They had 48 points in the paint to Illinois’ 24 and also doubled the Illini in bench points, 24-12.
UCLA hasn’t lost since it fell to No. 4 Texas, 76-65, on Nov. 26 in Las Vegas.
In the 10 games before facing Illinois, the Bruins beat their opponents by an average of nearly 40 points and scored an average of more than 91 points per game.
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UCLA hosts No. 8 Iowa on Sunday at 1 p.m.