Dominance has been the narrative of the Bruins’ 2025-2026 campaign.

Come to a game at Pauley Pavilion, and you are virtually guaranteed an 80-plus point showing and a UCLA victory by at least 20.

But the Bruins’ latest road series could be writing a new storyline.

Coming off its closest win of the season, No. 2 UCLA women’s basketball (23-1, 13-0 Big Ten) will face No. 13 Michigan State (20-4, 9-4) in East Lansing, Michigan, for its third top-15 conference contest in four games.

“That’s why I love playing in the Big Ten – there’s just such elite competition and varied styles of play that prepare you for what it’s going to feel like in the NCAA tournament,” said coach Cori Close.

While Close’s squad has comfortably held its undefeated conference record since early December, Sunday’s 69-66 win over then-No. 8 Michigan breathes hope into the upset dreams of the remaining opponents on UCLA’s regular-season slate.

And the Spartans make a case as one of the teams best poised to seize an upset.

Michigan State took Michigan to overtime Feb. 1, ultimately losing 94-91. While the Bruins may have bested the Wolverines on Sunday, the 3-point victory came on a night when Michigan was shooting just 36.6% from the field.

UCLA’s interior defense could be credited for Michigan’s uncharacteristically low shooting night. But the Wolverines’ 23.8% mark from deep Sunday was largely due to misfired shots – misses that the Spartans were not afforded when they took an Ann Arbor squad shooting 40.9% from the 3-point line, for a collective 57.1% clip from the field, past regulation.

11,635 fans were in attendance at Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan, for the in-state rivalry matchup two weeks ago. The last time the Bruins played in an environment with that many fans was Jan. 3 in their own crosstown game against the Trojans, attracting 11,241 people to Pauley Pavilion.

With Pauley Pavilion’s attendance at an average of 5,573 fans in the contests since, and its road games across Big Ten arenas bringing in crowds of 4,848 on average, UCLA has not been forced to play in a particularly high-energy environment since early January – even on the road.

There is no guarantee that Wednesday will come anywhere close to filling Breslin Center. But if even two-thirds of the fans who showed up for the Spartans-Wolverines game come watch the primetime contest featuring the nation’s No. 2 team, the Bruins could find themselves in a newly hostile environment – something they were just getting a taste of in Ann Arbor.

“You could feel just the intensity of each possession, and that’s something, honestly, we have needed,” Close said after Sunday’s game against Michigan. “We haven’t had that really since Texas, and being able to be in those environments and feel what that’s going to feel like (is important).”

UCLA’s loss to No. 4 Texas on Nov. 26 has been the sole mark on an otherwise unblemished record this season. Since that defeat, the Bruins have honed in on a collective 51.8% shooting mark from the field – the second-highest in the nation – in comparison to their opponents’ 36% average.

“As the season’s gone on, we’ve just been more and more connected,” said senior center Lauren Betts. “We’re going to just continue to keep our heads down and keep working every day.”

If Michigan State wants to get an edge on UCLA, which holds the advantage in nearly every conference statistic, it will have to force turnovers and capitalize on second-chance opportunities. The Spartans average 11.9 steals to force 20.8 turnovers per game – good for second and third most in the Big Ten, respectively.

At the end of the day, the Bruins’ depth – manifested in four 13-plus points per game scorers – presents a challenge for any team.

“When we feel like our outside shots aren’t falling, we can always rely on Lauren (Betts) getting inside or everyone else getting downhill – people cutting, moving off the ball,” said senior guard Kiki Rice. “I think that speaks to the maturity we have. When one thing’s not working, we’re going to find a way to make something else work.”