LOS ANGELES, CA — On Sunday, the UCLA Bruins fought through a challenging first half to a statement 22-point win over fourteenth ranked Tennessee, behind a dominant performance from senior guard Gabriela Jaquez. While the guard play for UCLA was exceptional, the game also reminded how thin the margin is in the absence of injured key forwards Sienna Betts and Timea Gardiner, and just how different the Bruins’ offensive identity is.
Tennessee arrived with a clear game plan: wear UCLA down. The Vols opened with three straight one-minute hockey substitutions, their typical five in, five out rotations, turning the first quarter into a track meet. They pressed from the opening tip, forcing six early turnovers and speeding the Bruins into rushed possessions that never let Lauren Betts settle into her usual gravitational role.
“We’re letting them speed us up,” UCLA head coach Cori Close told the Pauley Pavilion crowd at halftime, despite a double digit lead. “If we can get the ball to Lauren, play with poise, and rebound, we’ll be okay.”
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Fifth year post player Angela Dugalic has been one of the bright spots during this injury stretch: her mid-range reliability and willingness to absorb contact have kept UCLA functional when Betts sits. She finished with another strong statistical outing on Sunday, doing the bruising work that doesn’t make highlight reels. But there’s no question that they miss Gardiner and Sienna Betts. They desperately need a spacer and a secondary post creator to take some of the pressure off Betts, and draw some defensive attention.
“Our rotations and how we need to play in the post, we need to be able to move pieces around a bit better,” Close said when asked about what the return of these players will mean for their offense. “We need to be able to put Lauren on the move more, and let her go ahead and step out some, instead of every time, the banging that she has to put up with. Sharing the load.”
So far this season, teams have been able to send double and triple teams to Betts before she even catches the ball. Tennessee capitalized, fronting the 6-7 center with length and sending immediate backside help. On most early possessions, Betts couldn’t even get touches, let alone shots. She finished the game with 7 points on only 8 shot attempts, her second lowest total in the last two seasons. She was moved into the role of a decoy, given the immense amount of intense pressure she faced, and the lack of post presence to help bear some of the load.
“Lauren Betts has an absolute thankless job: draw triple teams every single time, get fouled before you even touch the ball,” Coach Close said. “Lauren played a selfless, sacrificial winning game.”
The irony of the afternoon was that the player who might have helped UCLA steady its frontcourt was wearing orange. Fifth-year transfer Janiah Barker, who left the Bruins for Tennessee last offseason, looked fresher and more disruptive than she had for UCLA. She had 14 points in 12 first-half minutes, thriving in Tennessee’s fast-paced offense.
The Vols played ten players in the first half, none for more than 13 minutes. UCLA was forced into early minutes for freshman Lena Bilic, who logged twelve in the game after playing a total of 10 against all three ranked opponents UCLA has played this season.
The Bruins are fortunate that Dugalic is playing the best basketball of her college career. She battles, rebounds, and hits mid-range jumpers with confidence. She finished with solid numbers again on Sunday – 14 points on 6-7 shooting, her sixth double-digit effort this season. She’s giving UCLA a huge boost, but she cannot simultaneously be the bruiser, the spacer, the defender, and the secondary post operator that this roster requires to make Betts the best she can be.
“I do think Angela is doing better and better at having that be a real place of pride in her game: getting those post seals, and not just standing on the perimeter,” Close said.
Regarding Lauren’s ability to get touches, Close credited the Tennessee pace: “We knew with the pace of the game it was going to be harder,” she said.
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Sophomore Amanda Muse plays hard but isn’t ready to anchor post possessions. Bilic offers size but not yet reliability. And when Betts sits due to foul trouble, or gets swallowed by defensive crowds, UCLA runs out of frontcourt solutions.
UCLA believes both Gardiner and Sienna Betts are close to a return to the court, and that we can expect a major offensive shift. “Sienna is going to be huge for us when she comes back,” Close. “She’s a power player, a great passer from the high post, very versatile,” she said. “Her ability to play some of the power game […] will be a help to Lauren.”
The return of either of these players will help UCLA increase their margin for error and take pressure off of Betts as well as off the UCLA guards, who are carrying an increased load. The return of both could very well make UCLA a national contender, as they were projected to be.
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