LOS ANGELES — Janiah Barker had 18 points and 11 rebounds, Lauren Betts added 17 points and 12 rebounds and the No. 5 UCLA women rolled past Pepperdine 91-54 on Tuesday.
This was no trap game for the Bruins. UCLA easily won and was in control of all phases of the game to remain undefeated.
UCLA (3-0) came out of the gate on fire even though it was an unusually early weekday game. Betts was dominant in the paint and scored on a putback and was fouled for a three-point play for the big lead at 18-0.
Ornela Muca, who led Pepperdine (1-2) with 20 points, made a 3-pointer to stop the run.
Pepperdine missed 12 of its first 16 shots. With Betts scoring at-will inside, the Waves could ill afford to start the game cold but that’s what happened. The Waves shot 30.5% from the field.
Betts made all six of her shots in the first half and didn’t miss until the third quarter.
UCLA outrebounded Pepperdine 56-22.
The Waves have much to learn under new coach Katie Faulkner, and a game against UCLA will help. They often couldn’t run their offense against such a stifling defense. That level of competition could pay dividends during West Coast Conference play.