No. 3 UCLA outlasted visiting Princeton on the back of center Lauren Betts, who produced her third double-double of the season, and the Bruins improved to 4-0 with a 77-74 win at Pauley Pavilion on Friday.
Betts made all nine of her field-goal attempts and led UCLA with 22 points and 10 rebounds. She had 11 points in the first half, but the Bruins faced an uphill battle most of the second half.
Kaitlyn Chen scored 24 points for Princeton (2-1) and Skye Belker added 20.
Charisma Osborne had 21 points and pushed UCLA ahead on a corner 3 with 2:26 to play. She knocked down a pair of free throws with 20.4 seconds left to make it 76-72.
Betts pounded home a pair of baskets on successive possessions, and the Bruins closed a 51-50 Princeton lead with three minutes to play in the third.
Princeton led 35-32 at halftime.
Trailing 17-8 at the end of the first quarter, Princeton stormed back with a 27-point second quarter.
The Tigers closed to 22-21 on Belker’s 3 at the 5:29 mark. Mari Bickley’s jumper tied the game at 23. Bickley buried another 3-pointer to give the Tigers their first lead at 29-26, and Belker added another jumper to hike the advantage to five points.
–No. 7 LSU 73, SE Louisiana 50
Flau’jae Johnson recorded 17 points, 11 rebounds and four steals to help the Tigers cruise past the Lions at Hammond, La., despite All-American Angel Reese not being with the club.
Coach Kim Mulkey declined to divulge why Reese wasn’t with the team for the road game located 47 miles away. Reese led the Tigers to last season’s national title.
Mikaylah Williams scored 13 points and Hailey Van Lith added 12 for LSU (4-1), which had a 44-29 rebounding edge. The Tigers shot 41.3 percent from the field, including 4 of 14 from 3-point range.
Hailey Giaratano and Kennedy Paul scored 12 points each for SE Louisiana (2-2). The Lions shot 37.7 percent from the field and were 5 of 16 from 3-point range.
–No. 12 Florida State 79, Florida 75
Florida State sophomore Ta’Niya Latson scored a career-high 35 points and rallied the No. 12 Seminoles past host Florida in Gainesville.
Latson made 12 of 12 free throws, including the game-clinching pair with 6.4 seconds remaining, and FSU (3-0) outscored the Gators 30-19 in the fourth quarter.
Florida (3-1) was led by Ra Shya Kyle’s 16 points in the post, and senior guard Leilani Correa added 16 but was 1 of 6 from 3-point range. The Gators shot 6 of 24 from long range.
The Seminoles converted 20 of 24 foul shots.
–No. 18 Indiana 112, Murray State 79
Sara Scalia scored 22 points and MacKenzie Holmes added 20 points and 10 rebounds as the Hoosiers rolled past the Racers at Bloomington, Ind.
Yarden Garzon and Chloe Moore-McNeil scored 14 points apiece for Indiana (2-1). Lexus Bargesser and Lilly Meister added 12 apiece for the Hoosiers, who shot 53.8 percent from the field and made 7 of 19 from 3-point range.
Katelyn Young recorded 18 points and 10 rebounds and Ava Learn added 15 points for Murray State (1-2). Hannah McKay added 13 points for the Racers, who shot 40.8 percent from the field and 10 of 34 from behind the arc.
–Field Level Media
