Doubtful that Arizona will face a frontcourt like UCLA’s the rest of the season. That’s the good news.
The disappointing news: A 76-44 blowout loss to the defending champion Bruins at Pauley Pavilion on Thursday night after the Wildcats and coach Becky Burke envisioned a more competitive performance following a 2-0 start, including a double-digit win over Stanford at Las Vegas.
UCLA’s 6-foot-4 forward Sienna Betts (11 points and 10 rebounds), 6-foot-2 TCU transfer Addy Brown (18 points and eight rebounds), and 6-3 Oregon State transfer Timea Gardiner (16 points and six rebounds) outscored Arizona.
They combined for 45 points. Notre Dame transfer guard KK Bransford contributed 13 points and Somto Okafor had 10 points and five rebounds.
Arizona did not finish with a scorer in double figures. Aliyahna “Puff” Morris and Makayla Presser-Palmer each had eight points.
The Wildcats (2-1) made only 24.1% of its shots from the field, finishing with more turnovers (16) than made field goals (14).
UCLA (3-0) won its 34th consecutive game, building its lead gradually from early in the first quarter through efficiency.
Despite their starting point guard Elina Aarnisalo absent because she is playing with Finland in a EuroBasket qualifying event, UCLA had only eight turnovers and produced 21 assists on its 29 made field goals.
Arizona finished with only eight assists. The Wildcats did not have an assist in the fourth quarter.
After a 12-2 run for UCLA put the Bruins up 14-4 with 5:12 left in the first quarter, the Wildcats struggled to cut deep into that lead.
UCLA led 19-11 after the first quarter because of Arizona’s cold shooting (25%, 4 of 16) from the field while the Bruins made 50% (8 of 16) of their shots.
The Bruins held a double-digit lead through most of the second quarter because the teams traded baskets 10 consecutive times.
By halftime, UCLA’s lead grew to 37-24.
Arizona had almost as many turnovers (eight) as made field goals (nine) at the half.
Presser-Palmer had four assists but four turnovers at that point.
UCLA went on a 16-2 run to pull away to a 62-39 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Betts, Gardiner and Brown outscored Arizona in the third quarter, combining for 19 points on while Arizona managed only 15 points on 4-of-20 shooting from the field.
Arizona returns to McKale Center on Sunday to face another former Pac-12 foe — Oregon State — at 7 p.m. That game against the Beavers (2-1) will be on ESPN+.
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