EAST LANSING- No. 13 MSU women’s basketball was defeated 86-63 by No. 2 UCLA Wednesday night at the Breslin Center. UCLA hit the ground running, and the Spartans were never able to match the Bruins.
The Spartans took on one of the best teams in the country and shared a similar fate to many teams that have gone against UCLA this season. Here are three takeaways from the loss.
The Lauren Betts show
UCLA senior center Lauren Betts has been one of the best players in the nation, and MSU had no answer for her all night. Betts scored on the first possession of the game and would dominate, with her height being a massive advantage. Betts scored nine points the second quarter, a big reason UCLA had a 24-point lead at the half. She also added three rebounds, two assists, and a block in the quarter. Betts would go on to finish with 22/7/5 along with two blocks. She shot 10-14 from the field, and the Spartans were unable to do anything to slow her down. Listed at 6-7, there was no player on MSU’s roster that matched her height, giving her a huge advantage in the paint.
Betts continued to build her case for one of the best players in the nation, and she kept attacking even with the game pretty much decided. She opened the fourth quarter with two consecutive buckets before she would check out for the night. With her height, her teammates could throw the ball up for her, and she would come down with it every time. Betts also completely neutralized senior forward Grace VanSlooten, who has been one of the main stars for MSU this year. VanSlooten shot 3-12 and finished the night with eight points, unable to get anything going against Betts’ elite defense.
UCLA dominates the rebound battle
One of the main reasons the Bruins won this game handily was the rebound battle. MSU has done well at rebounding this year, but against UCLA, its lack of size crushed the Spartans. UCLA outrebounded MSU 48-28 and had 14 offensive rebounds. The Bruins had as many offensive boards as the Spartans had defensive, so UCLA was able to keep possessions alive all night. VanSlooten was the Spartans’ leading rebounder with six, while four players for UCLA had seven rebounds each. The Bruins’ size showed in many facets of the game as well, as they outscored the Spartans in the paint 56-22 and also blocked seven shots.
“They’re a really good rebounding team, but it goes back to forcing rotation. So when you flip that around, when you have someone like Lauren, who forces rotation on almost every catch and forces you to do those kinds of advantage plays on the other side, that’s what opened up some of our guard rebounding,” UCLA head coach Cori Close said. “And some of our fore players attacking from that because conversely, we were forcing them to get into rotation almost every time, and it’s really hard once you’re in rotation, to get out and make contact on all those boxouts.”
First half woes
After the slow start against Penn State, the Spartans had to avoid a similar start against a team like UCLA. MSU would struggle in the first half, only making 8-35 shots in the first half and shooting 3-16 from deep. The Spartans shot just 4-18 in the opening quarter and ended the first ten minutes already down by double-digits. The Spartans entered halftime with only 20 points and faced a 24-point deficit. The Spartans have dealt with many slow starts this season, but against a team like UCLA, starting slowly makes it nearly impossible to win.
“Well the first half our execution was bad. I mean, we weren’t on the same page with our communication; there has to be a connectedness of what we’re doing,” MSU head coach Robyn Fralick said. “And you have to remember things, this time of the year, there’s a few things that we’re always going to add and you have to be able to remember it and execute. So that’s a growth area for our group.”
UCLA improved to 24-1 and 14-0 in the Big Ten, while MSU fell to 20-5 and 9-5 in conference play. The gauntlet continues for MSU, as they take on rival Michigan in Ann Arbor Sunday afternoon. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. ET.
