Westwood, Ca – A noonday game to celebrate Black excellence on a Sunday, the second day in Black History month, Minnesota Golden Gophers visited Pauley Pavilion to face an uphill battle against the undefeated No.1 UCLA Lady Bruins with both teams’ rosters composed of Black excellence. Despite an explosive start, the Golden Gophers fizzled out, eventually falling, 79-53, handing Lady Bruins their 9th victory in the Big Ten Conference and 21st for the season.
Both teams traded baskets after the first quarter before UCLA ultimately got it rolling with their ball pressure defense and depth bench play. The Lady Bruins outscored Golden Gophers 46-25 in the second half, reassuring their home crowd they’re a number 1 team for a reason and defending home court after not having a home game in 31 days.

“It is so good to be back in Pauley,’ Coach Cori Close said. “The reason we have not been here for over a month is because of what our great city has been going through and I think there has to be a sense of humility.”
Coach Close continued expressing humility with gratitude for all the people fighting to rebuild then shifting that gratitude to serving and coaching players like KiKi Rice as acknowledgement of Black excellence during this month.
“KiKi Rice’s elite work ethic has created a culture in our program that you feel left out if you’re not doing the extra work,” Coach Close acclaimed. “I am a really fortunate coach to be involved incredibly in the precious lives of the most diverse sport in college Athletics. Women’s basketball has been the most diverse sport in college Athletics for over a decade and 67% of those are Black women and today is about Black excellence but in the broader scope I think it’s how do you value someone and honor someone that’s different than you.”
Junior forward Rice who scored 14 points off 6-8 shooting, showcased not only her Black excellence but her leadership by influence that her coach raved about being an example rather than having a boisterous voice as she took over the challenge to slow down the hot shooting of Golden Gophers’ Amaya Battle.

Battle finished the first half with 17 points with efficient shooting, 8-10. For most of the game, Junior guard Londynn Jones and her went at each other starting off the game with each knocking down a 3-point bucket out the gate. But Battle got the best of Jones as Jones spent most of the game figuring out how to contain Battle before helping her team get a win.
Still Battle led all scorers with 21 points for the game but was limited to only four second -half points.
“Battle’s a great player and had a great game,” said Rice. Rice and junior center Lauren Betts both were in the same recruiting class as Battle along with forward Janiah Barker.

Though Betts was limited in scoring, yet she was able to contribute offensively, dishing out 11 assists to keep her team in position to earn another homecourt victory in conference play.
“Lauren is so dominant and arguably the most dominant on both sides of the floor, ” Close said. She stepped up to the challenge and it speaks volumes to how dominant she’s been and how selfless she is to be able to facilitate for her team.“
Betts ended the game with six points, six rebounds, to help her team hold the Gophers to ten points in the third quarter, entering the fourth quarter with a 15 point lead after only leading by 5 at halftime.

UCLA continued their run in the fourth quarter, improving their field goal percentage and outrebounding the Golden Gophers slightly to seal the win with 10 of 11 players tallying up points, led by Freshman guard Elina Aarnisalo, 15 points and five rebounds. Jones added 13 points.
UCLA returns back to Pauley to face off with No 8 Ohio State and Oregon before going against crosstown rival No. 4 USC.
