Home cooking: UCLA gets 96-43 round one win over California Baptist

It was a sluggish start to the NCAA tournament for the No. 1 seed UCLA Bruins, as No. 16 seed California Baptist stuck around longer than expected on Saturday but the Bruins eventually broke away, picking up a 96-43 win to advance to the second round.

UCLA trailed for more than just a handful of possessions

The Lancers held a lead over six minutes into the game before the immense talent of the Bruins became too much for the WAC champions. UCLA ended the first quarter with a 23-15 lead but it felt a lot worse than that for the Bruins. 

The final score ended up in the right place for the Bruins

Other elite programs in the tournament crushed their first round matchups, with UConn beating UTSA 90-52, South Carolina handled Southern 103-34 and LSU got a 116-58 victory over Jacksonville. It’s not as if it’s time to panic for UCLA looked more mortal than expected against 23-11 California Baptist.

UCLA pulled away in the third quarter

After the Bruins led just 44-34 at halftime, UCLA dominated the third quarter 31-4 to put any chance of an upset to bed. The Bruins showed a much higher level of defensive intensity while getting some shots to fall.

Cori Close got the underclassmen some action

UCLA added onto the lead in the fourth quarter while letting the Baby Bruins get some run. Freshmen Sienna Betts, Lena Bilic and Christina Karamouzi all got burn along with sophomore Amanda Muse, allowing UCLA’s senior core a lighter second half workload. 

UCLA's stars led the way but they got some help off the bench

The trio of Lauren Betts, Kiki Rice and Gabriela Jaquez combined for 56 points to lead the way for the UCLA offense. Sienna Betts and Angela Dugalic thrived off the bench for the Bruins, with Dugalic posting 10 points and 10 rebounds with Sienna Betts adding 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Bruins need to be better from deep

It’ll be hard for UCLA to win six games in a row in this NCAA tournament if they don’t get better production from three. The Bruins went 5-15 from three with Charlisse Leger-Walker being the only UCLA player to knock down multiple triples. UCLA can’t blame an unfamiliar arena either, with Pauley Pavilion hosting the Bruins first two games in the tournament.

What's next

Speaking of Pauley Pavilion, the Bruins will be back in action there on Monday against Oklahoma State. The No. 8 seed Cowboys defeated No. 9 seed Princeton 82-68 on Saturday.

This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: UCLA shakes off slow start, picks up 96-43 win over California Baptist