INDIANAPOLIS — Go ahead, design your defense to stop Lauren Betts with swarming double and triple teams.
She’ll just fling the ball to Gianna Kneepkens for an open 3-pointer.
Do everything you can to keep Gabriela Jaquez out of rhythm.
Here comes Angela Dugalic off the bench to provide a flurry of points and rebounds.
Blitz Kiki Rice any time she tries to run the offense.
UCLA will just turn to Charlisse Leger-Walker, its other top-level point guard, to relieve that pressure.
There’s no easy way to beat this women’s basketball team given the depth and balance that was once again on display Saturday inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The Bruins had five players score in double figures and received multiple key contributions off the bench during a 72-62 victory over Ohio State in a Big Ten Tournament semifinal.
It’s the sort of showing that makes one believe this team has what it takes to win its first NCAA championship.
“This team is really special,” said Betts, whose 14 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals felt routine given her continued dominance. “This group of girls that we have together is not normal. To be in these type of games, you’re definitely going to need every single person. I’m proud of how everyone had the confidence to step up and do what was needed when we needed them.”
Dugalic displayed once more why she might be the nation’s best super sub.
During one critical sequence in the fourth quarter, she blocked a 3-pointer on one end of the court and made a 3-pointer on the other.
“Ange, every time she comes in the game, she gives us a spark — the way she offensive rebounds, she hustles, defends, knocks down shots,” Rice said of the reserve forward who was strong across the board with 14 points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks. “The way she comes in and impacts the game is something we’re really grateful to have off the bench, and she makes us better every single time she’s on the floor.”
Dugalic wasn’t the only reserve to add a spark. Maximizing her short stint off the bench, freshman forward Sienna Betts added some defensive toughness with two steals in her seven minutes.
“The way she got deflections, slid her feet and had some really smart plays down the stretch,” Rice said of Lauren Betts’ younger sister, “helped us and motivated us to go on a run.”
UCLA coach Cori Close said she challenged her reserves to contribute a passion play — making a deflection, hustling for a loose ball — whenever they got in the game. Everyone who checked in checked that box.
“What I think I’m most proud of our thriving,” Close said, “is the way in which everybody made a contribution and chose to be an add to winning possessions.”
The Bruins also benefited from more sharpshooting from Kneepkens, who made three 3-pointers and is shooting a team-high 43.4% from long range.
“She’s a sniper,” Lauren Betts said. “She’s one of those players that’s always going to be a go-to for us offensively. She’s super efficient, and we have so much trust and confidence in her.”
Close said she was also proud of Jaquez’s play late in a game in which she wasn’t at her best.
“Right before I came up here,” Close said, referring to her speaking with reporters, “I pulled Gabs aside, and I thought she was really big down the stretch. What I liked about that the most is that she struggled a little bit in that middle of the second half. It just showed a lot of her mental toughness that, when we needed her the most, she was going to be there for us on the defensive end and on the rebounding end.”
Perhaps nobody knows the qualities that make UCLA a threat to win it all better than Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff, who freely acknowledged the Bruins’ many weapons after falling to 0-2 against them this season.
“That’s what makes them really special,” McGuff said, “is they have a plethora of talent and depth and length. It’s not just the Betts sisters around the basket, but across the board they’re really long. That bothered us today, they tipped a lot of balls, a lot of passes we usually get through for shots or at least shot opportunities, they were tipping those.
“I think their combination of talent, depth and length really makes them very difficult to play against; that’s why I think they’ve got a chance to make a great run in the NCAA” Tournament.
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