No. 3 UCLA vs No. 12 Maryland | Big Ten | 1.18.26

LOS ANGELES, California – January 18th, 2026

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Written by UCLAbruins.com

No. 3 UCLA (17-1, 7-1 B1G) overwhelmed No. 12 Maryland (17-3, 5-3 B1G) with a 97-67 point win on Sunday afternoon.

Senior Gabriela Jaquez led the way for the Bruins with 22 points, four rebounds, and three assists while shooting 77 percent from the field. Graduate student Charlisse Leger-Walker followed closely behind, recording a near triple-double with 17 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists. The New Zealander secured 500-career assists with her final helper of the night.

Graduate student Gianna Kneepens finished with 16 points, five assists, and four rebounds. Senior Lauren Betts tied her season-high in blocks (5) in addition to her 11 points, five rebounds, and two assists. Graduate student Angela Dugalic scored 12 points off the bench while grabbing eight rebounds and four assists.

UCLA won the jump ball to start the game and immediately made an impact, with Leger-Walker finding Jaquez for two. Lauren Betts made her presence known, grabbing an offensive rebound and finishing the layup. Senior Kiki Rice started a defensive show, stealing the ball to find Jaquez for the layup in the paint off the fast break. After a Maryland response basket, UCLA went on a 7-0 run, keeping Maryland scoreless for the next 2:36. During the run, Rice claimed an offensive rebound and quickly found Leger-Walker, who hit a three.

Kneepkens hit her first basket of the game, then found Lauren Betts who finished at the rim. Jaquez made sure to answer a Terrapin shot at the 3:56 mark, driving down to the basket to finish the reverse layup. Kneepkens added three more on the next possession before forcing a steal a minute later that turned into a Dugalic three. When Leger-Walker missed her second free throw attempt with 35 seconds left, Dugalic grabbed the offensive rebound and found Rice, who dished the ball out for a redemption three-pointer by Leger-Walker. The Bruins ended the first quarter with a 25-17 lead.

Leger-Walker led all scorers in the first with seven points, four rebounds, and one assist, followed closely by Jaquez who recorded six points of her own.

Rice started the second quarter scoring for the Bruins, making the acrobatic jumper over a defender. Rice raced to the other side of the floor after her completion, blocking a Maryland shot and stopping the potential fast break opportunity.

At the 6:53 mark, Kneepkens started her skillful quarter, driving down the hole to pull in defenders before finding a wide-open Leger-Walker outside the arc for a three-pointer. A minute later, Kneepkens made the first shot of a solo 8-0 run, hitting two threes afterward to put UCLA up 39-26. Jaquez then found a part of the action, grabbing the defensive rebound on one side and hitting a three-pointer on the other. Kneepkens grabbed an offensive rebound off a Leger-Walker missed three, finding the Kiwi for a second-chance three that she nailed. Jaquez scored the final basket for the Bruins, snagging an offensive rebound and finishing the contested layup. UCLA ended the first half up 47-35.

Three Bruins finished in double digits to end the first half. Kneepkens shot perfectly from the field while contributing to 14 UCLA points through her own points and assists. Leger-Walker finished the quarter with 13 points and six rebounds, her only shots being three-pointers. Jaquez added 11 points in addition to her three rebounds and one assist. UCLA shot 56 percent from the field and 53 percent from behind the line.

Lauren Betts started the quarter with her third block of the game, stopping Maryland on their first possession, only for Rice to drive down and make a difficult layup for UCLA. A minute later, Lauren Betts grabbed an offensive rebound and turned it into another two for the Bruins. Leger-Walker continued with her dominance, driving down the hole off the fast break for two, forcing a Terrapin timeout. Lauren Betts hit a jump shot out of the timeout, then made a defensive block on the other side, which turned into a Jaquez turnaround jumper. Freshman Sienna Betts added to the action, making a layup off a Leger-Walker dime before finding Jaquez for three on the next possession. Mirroring the first quarter, Dugalic grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed free throw, this time finishing the second-chance attempt herself to force another timeout. UCLA finished the quarter with a 73-47 lead...

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