This post was updated Dec. 2 at 12:28 a.m.

The nation’s top-ranked team will enter its inaugural Big Ten season opener undefeated.

After landing at the top of the NCAA rankings for the first time in program history, No. 1 UCLA women’s basketball (8-0) conquered tournament host Hawai’i (5-2) 70-49 in the final game of the Rainbow Wahine Showdown at SimpliFi Arena in Honolulu. The Bruins defeated UT Martin and Fresno State in the first two games of the tournament, by 60 and 56 points, respectively.

“We do have a lot of confidence, obviously, but there are a lot of things that we need to work on as well,” said junior center Lauren Betts. “We want to go into every game like we’re going to win, but at the same time … we have to continue to get better.

In the initial minutes against the Rainbow Wahine, scoring seemed like a breeze for the Bruins, who notched 97 points in each of the first two games of the tournament – four points below their single-game season high. Betts and junior guard Kiki Rice put up eight and five points, respectively, to bring the team to a total of 16 points to lead Hawai’i’s seven.

However, the Bruins’ scoring dwindled in the second quarter. The first points of the quarter came from two free throws by Hawai’i guard Daejah Phillips. The Big West Sixth Player of the Year broke a dry spell that kept both teams scoreless for three minutes. 

Phillips’ free throws kicked off a 22-point quarter for the Rainbow Warriors, with Hawai’i going 9-for-9 at the free throw line for a total 11-for-11 in the first half. 

Conversely, the Bruins scored just 14 points in the second quarter after going 1-for-8 in the first five minutes of the quarter. 

“We let a lot of things become interferences for us, and therefore our performance went down. It’s really that simple,” said coach Cori Close. “Whether it was a call that we didn’t agree with, missing a shot, them hitting a three – we were late to get to our huddles. Instead of getting tighter, we splintered a little bit.”

Rice kept her team afloat with nine points in the second quarter. The guard recently returned from a shoulder injury, which left her out of play for the first three games of the season, but put up a total 21 points to mark her season high.

By the end of the first half, UCLA walked into the locker room hanging on to just a three-point lead.

“I think they knew that that was not Bruin basketball. That’s not how we respond to each other, that’s not how we give to each other,” Close said. “It was really not an X’s and O’s conversation as much as it was a mentality, a choice, what kind of teammate are you choosing to be. 

Returning to the court, the Rainbow Warriors slowed down in the third quarter.

Like the second quarter, Phillips recorded the first point for the Rainbow Warriors – but, Hawai’i went silent for the next four minutes of the quarter. Meanwhile, UCLA regained its shooting prowess that it displayed in the first two games of the tournament. 

UCLA outscored Hawai’i 24-10 to bolster its lead to 15 points by the end of the third quarter. Six Bruins of the eight who appeared in the quarter added points to the board, including junior forward Janiah Barker’s team-leading six points. The Texas A&M transfer has averaged 10.9 points so far this season and led the team with six rebounds against Hawai’i. 

“We started making teamwork plays on offense, I thought we were going way too much one-on-one in the first half,” Close said. “But, it started with getting more stops, and I thought it was really our defense that went up, which created a better offense.”

Nearly halfway through the quarter, junior guard Gabriela Jaquez hit a jumper to reclaim a double-digit lead. From there, the Bruins continued to add to the lead – finishing the fourth quarter with 14 points for a 70-point total.

UCLA will head into Big Ten conference play against former Pac-12 team, Washington, on a high note.