Kiki Rice powers No. 1 UCLA to victory over Creighton

SAN FRANCISCO – Kiki Rice scored 20 points and No. 1 UCLA built a big lead en route to a 70-41 victory over Creighton on Friday night at the Invisalign Bay Area Women’s Classic, winning without top player Lauren Betts.

Angela Dugalić added 13 points and 14 rebounds for her second double-double for the Bruins (12-0, 1-0 Big Ten), whose stingy defense made Creighton’s top shooters uncomfortable.

Morgan Maly scored 15 points to lead the Bluejays (9-3, 1-0 Big East), whose eight-game winning streak was snapped.

The 6-foot-7 Betts missed her second straight game because of a leg injury she suffered on Dec. 14 against Long Beach State. Her team-high averages are 19.8 points and 10.0 rebounds.

Creighton’s leading scorer, Lauren Jensen, had four points on two of 15 shots after entering the game averaging 19.1 points.

Takeaways

Creighton: They were 1 for 13 in the opening quarter as they missed all five three-pointers to quickly fall behind and hit five of 22 from deep. … The Bluejays are 0-4 in the series after losing to UCLA 67-63 in the second round of last season’s NCAA Tournament.

UCLA: Rice shot eight for 13 and also had five rebounds and four assists. … Freshman guard Elina Aarnisalo increased her team-leading total assists to 63 through the first 12 games of her college career.

Key moment: UCLA shot 11 for 22 in the first quarter – four of six from three-point range – to take a 26-4 lead.

Key Stats: UCLA had a commanding 59-26 rebounding advantage – 29-12 in the first half, and took a 42-23 lead at the break. Janiah Barker grabbed 11th place.

Next: UCLA hosts Nebraska on December 29th, while Creighton visits St. John’s on December 28th.