Kiki Rice scores 20 points as No. 1 UCLA defeats Creighton 70-41 to remain undefeated

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Kiki Rice scored 20 points and No. 1 UCLA built a big lead en route to a 70-41 win over Creighton on Friday night at the Invisalign Bay Area Women’s Classic, playing without its best player Lauren Betts won.

Angela Dugalic 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 2 of 15 shooting after entering the game averaging 19.1 points.

Takeaways

Creighton: Creighton was 1 for 13 in the first quarter, missed all five of its three-pointers, fell behind quickly and finished 5 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 8 of 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 – 4 of 6 from 3-point range – to take a 26-4 lead.

Key statistics

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.

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