Kiki Rice, Gabriela Jaquez propel UCLA to 84-55 victory over California Baptist in NCAA Tournament
Kiki Rice scored 20 points, Gabriela Jaquez added 17 and second-seeded UCLA cruised to an 84-55 victory over California Baptist on Saturday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Charisma Osbourne finished with 15 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists. The Bruins (26-6) will face seventh-seeded Creighton (26-5) in the second round on Monday for a spot in the Albany 2 Regional. The Bluejays made 15 3-pointers in their 87-73 victory over UNLV.
Kinsley Barrington scored 16 points and Nae Nae Calhoun had 12 for California Baptist (28-4).
The 15th-seeded Lancers, who were making their first NCAA Tournament appearance, were 12th in the nation in scoring, averaging 81.1 points, but shot 28.8% from the field.
Londyn Jones added 12 points for the Bruins, who were without leading scorer Lauren Betts due to a foot injury. The sophomore center, who missed four games earlier this season due to foot problems, could be available for Monday's game.
Rice hit a pair of free throws to give UCLA a 24-12 advantage midway though the second quarter before California Baptist scored nine straight points to get within three. The Bruins though countered with a 10-1 run and went into halftime with a 34-22 advantage.
Jaquez hit a free throw to end California Baptist's rally and a UCLA scoring drought of nearly four minutes. She missed her second, but Angela Dugalic got the rebound and threw it out to Rice, who hit an open 3-pointer.
The Bruins opened the second half with eight straight points to put it out of reach.
BIG PICTURE
California Baptist: The Lancers were making their first NCAA Tournament appearance. The school, located in Riverside, California, is 71 miles from Pauley Pavilion and sold over 1,000 tickets for the game.
UCLA: It was the sixth time in eight games that the Bruins have scored 70 or more points.
