Kiki Rice scores 20 points as No. 1 UCLA beats Creighton 70-41 to stay unbeaten

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Kiki Rice scored 20 points and No. 1 UCLA raced out to a big lead on the way to a 70-41 win over Creighton on Friday night in the Invisalign Bay Area Women’s Classic, winning without best player Lauren Betts.

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 sat out a second straight game with a leg injury she sustained against Long Beach State on Dec. 14. She averages team-bests of 19.8 points and 10.0 rebounds.

Creighton leading scorer Lauren Jensen was held to four points on 2-of-15 shooting after coming into the game averaging 19.1 points.

Takeaways

Creighton: Creighton was 1 for 13 in the opening quarter missing all five of its 3s to fall behind in a hurry and finishing 5 of 22 from deep. … The Bluejays are 0-4 in the series, having lost to UCLA 67-63 in the second round of last season’s NCAA Tournament.

UCLA: Rice shot 8 for 13 and also had five rebounds and four assists. … Freshman guard Elina Aarnisalo increased her team-leading assists total to 63 through the first 12 games of her collegiate career.

Key moment

UCLA shot 11 for 22 in the opening quarter — 4 of 6 from 3-point range — to jump to a 26-4 lead.

Key stat

UCLA held a commanding 59-26 rebounding advantage — 29-12 in the first half on the way to a 42-23 lead at the break. Janiah Barker grabbed 11.

Up next

UCLA hosts Nebraska on Dec. 29 while Creighton visits St. John’s on Dec. 28.

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