The Bruins will take on the Tigers for just the third time in program history.

No. 3 UCLA women’s basketball (3-0) will face Princeton (2-0) on Friday morning at Pauley Pavilion. The Tigers are the reigning Ivy League champions, having won five consecutive conference titles, and will return to Westwood after a decade since last facing the Bruins.

“They’re going to give us all we can handle, and I am really just wanting us to go to a new level of little things like eye contact, communication, sitting in the stands longer,” said coach CoriClose. “I just want to see a new level of togetherness and toughness.”

The Tigers secured a 14-point comeback against Middle Tennessee on Sunday, allowing them to remain undefeated this season.

But their streak won’t deter the Bruins heading into their fourth contest of the season.

Sophomore guard Kiki Rice said she is hoping the squad can improve and bring consistency to its communication.

“We’ve been focused on really responding, making eye contact and breaking huddles with claps,” Rice said.

UCLA is entering Friday’s game on a winning streak of its own, similarly undefeated so far this season.

Against Bellarmine on Sunday, sophomore forward Gabriela Jaquez secured a career-high 30 points along with her first career double-double after Close started the Camarillo local at power forward.

“The work done in the dark always eventually gets revealed in the light,” Close said. “She’s just a worker. And I’m really proud of her that she’s seeing the fruit of her labor.”

Throughout the second and third quarters, Jaquez put up 26 points, leading her team to reach the 100-point mark for the first time since Dec.1.

She said her successes are attributed to the strong presence of sophomore center Lauren Betts, the other half of the Bruins’ starting frontcourt.

“I was driving to the basket, but a big part of it is having Lauren on our team,” Jaquez said. “She’s just such a weapon inside, and so the teams get scared of her and they don’t want to leave her to help. So if they aren’t going to leave, the driving lanes are open for me.”

Betts – UCLA’s first true center since 2015 – secured a double-double against Bellarmine to go along with a career-high 20 points in her Bruin debut against Purdue.

“She’s just sort of born in this dream and has sort of been seamless. It was like she was meant to be here,” Close said, who was also Betts’ coach for Team USA at the 2021 FIBA U19 Women’s World Cup.

UCLA and Princeton will each have the chance to continue their undefeated streaks Friday at 11:30 a.m. in Pauley Pavilion.