This post was updated March 6 at 12:44 p.m.

Most UCLA games open with a Lauren Betts basket. 

But Friday’s game opened with a different storyline, one the Bruins have seldom seen all season. That did not stop coach Cori Close’s squad from ending the narrative the way they have all season – with a comfortable double-digit victory.

Despite trailing 15-6 in the first quarter, No. 1 seed UCLA women’s basketball (29-1, 19-0) downed No. 8 seed Washington (21-10, 10-9) 78-60 Friday afternoon in the quarterfinal of the Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis. The victory at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse came less than a month after the Bruins beat the Huskies 82-67 at Pauley Pavilion. 

“I don’t really believe in ‘survive and advance,’” Close said. “If you’re going to try to go win this thing, it has to be ‘thrive and advance.’ And it has to be. We’re playing our best basketball, we attack, we know who we are. It’s a mindset. We’ve got to get that back really, really quick.”

A turnover from Betts, the Big Ten Player of the Year, on the opening possession gave Washington the first opportunity to score – an opportunity lost to an airball 3-point attempt.

While the uncharacteristic mistake for the Huskies, a proficient shooting team that boasts an 34.3% clip from deep this season, seemingly was just that – uncharacteristic, the Bruins’ unconventional miscues did not stop with the first possession. 

“It’s OK to make mistakes sometimes, but it’s never OK to not be the tougher, more together, more aggressive team from the jump,” Close said. “We got to learn that lesson right away.”

Six turnovers in the first quarter and a 27.3% clip from the field – along with zero offensive rebounds – left UCLA trailing 15-6 by the end of the first stanza. Four fouls to their opponents’ zero further contributed to the Bruins’ first quarter woes, and the Huskies shot a perfect clip from the charity stripe, largely thanks to Washington guard Avery Howell.

Howell was a difference maker all afternoon for Washington, and her 18 points off 7-for-11 shooting from the field, coupled with a 75% clip from the free throw line, led the team.

A steal and transition layup from graduate student guard Charlisse Leger-Walker on the opening possession of the second quarter brought the Bruins’ bench – which was notably seated for most of the first frame – to its feet. But Husky guard Sayvia Sellers immediately answered with a contested 3-pointer as the shot clock ran out to give her own bench a jolt, as her teammates rose to their feet in celebration.

UCLA’s defense left Washington frequently searching for a viable option as the seconds slimmed to single digits on the shot clock. Sellers and her teammates’ final-second shots, oftentimes on the perimeter, managed to fall through the net on multiple occasions, keeping the Huskies in the game.

The Bruins’ defensive efforts were not in vain, though, and they picked up seven steals on the night, in addition to racking up 25 defensive rebounds to their opponents’ 20. It was Betts’ who lead her team in boards, a domain she consistently dominates as the conference’s leading rebounder and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.

“My mentality going into every single game is on the defensive end,” Betts said. “I prioritize that the most. ‘How can I execute the scout? How can I take away the best players? How can I rebound?’ That’s what comes first to me, and then the points will come.”

A 15-0 run in the second quarter allowed UCLA to enter the break with a 27-24 lead. Betts helped spur the momentum for the Bruins with a layup, just two of her team-high 26 points on the night. 

While Betts and her teammates, who boast the second-highest field goal percentage in the nation, managed to shoot 54% from the field after an inefficient opening quarter, the clip was hindered by just 10% accuracy from the 3-point line – the Bruins’ lowest mark all season. 

“In the first couple possessions of the game, she was reverse pivoting and facing up and then shooting like the eight-foot jumper,” Close said. “And I’m like, ‘You’re feeding into exactly what they want you to do.’ And I just thought every single touch she got in the second half was to the rim, and was with aggression.” 

Senior guard Kiki Rice downed UCLA’s sole basket from deep, even with graduate student guard Gianna Kneepkens, who has averaged 45.7% shooting from the perimeter this season, taking four attempts. 

Both teams cranked up the offensive production in the third quarter as the Bruins maintained the 50% clip from the field they established in the second stanza. Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year graduate student forward Angela Dugalić’s perfect shooting in the third quarter extended the Bruins’ lead to eight points entering the final frame.

While Dugalić’s six points trailed the nine she averages, her six rebounds and team-high two steals eclipsed her usual per game numbers.

“Every game, we count on Ang (Dugalić) and Gabs (senior guard Gabriela Jaquez) to have big games for us,” Kneepkens said. “They play so hard. And … they can put the ball in the bucket too, maybe not today as much as they usually do, but they can get buckets. They can pass the ball, they dive on the floor, they get rebounds.”

Two-and-one opportunities on back-to-back possessions from graduate student Gianna Kneepkens and Betts offered one of the three 3-point opportunities the Bruins would create in the third quarter. UCLA’s increased aggression in the paint manifested in the 52 points it garnered in the key in comparison to Washington’s 32, which propelled the squad to its 18-point victory.

The continued facilitation on the court from point guards Rice and Leger-Walker created many of the Bruins opportunities in the paint. UCLA turned the ball over just four times after recording its six in the first quarter, more on par with the statistics that have earned them the second-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the country.

“Kiki had six assists and one turnover, and Charlisse Leger-Walker had five assists and one turnover,” Close said. “Guard play in March is everything. And so to have two guards, not just one, that can run a team that way, is really huge.”

Both teams entered the game coming off a win over USC, with Washington defeating the No. 9 seed 76-64 Thursday to earn its spot in the quarterfinal. The Bruins’ 23-point victory over the Trojans on Sunday concluded their undefeated conference season, making them just the fourth team in Big Ten history to achieve the feat.

While UCLA’s flawless Big Ten record earned it the regular season title, it does not guarantee a similar trophy. Just nine times in the Big Ten tournament’s 31-year history have the outright regular season champions won the championship game. 

The Bruins will continue their postseason campaign against the winner of No. 4 seed Minnesota versus No. 5 seed Ohio State on Saturday.