LOS ANGELES — Kiki Rice scored 16 points to lead five players in double figures and the No. 1 UCLA women’s basketball team defeated No. 24 Michigan 86-70 on Wednesday to complete a sweep of its first Big Ten homestand.
Rice had 10 assists and Lauren Betts had 13 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for the Bruins (14-0, 3-0 Big Ten), who led the entire game.
Syla Swords led the Wolverines with a career-high 30 points in her return. The standout freshman from Canada didn’t play in a loss at No. 4 USC because of a lower left leg injury she sustained on Dec. 20 against Akron.
Londynn Jones added 13 points, hitting three of her four 3-pointers in the fourth for the Bruins
The Wolverines are 0-4 against ranked teams this season. Swords scored a then-career-best 27 in a loss to then-No. 1 South Carolina. Their other losses were to then-No. 10 Oklahoma and a sweep by the ranked Los Angeles teams.
The Bruins saw their 13-point lead cut nearly in half in the fourth. But they responded with key baskets by Angela Dugalic and Jones and some big defensive stops over the final 5 1/2 minutes that stretched their lead to 20 points.
UCLA controlled the boards, 37-32, and was better in the paint (48-34). The UCLA bench outscored Michigan’s reserves 27-4. The Bruins had 29 assists on 35 made baskets.
UCLA visits Indiana on Saturday to open a two-game Midwest trip.
