Betts powers No. 2 UCLA to win at No. 13 Ohio State

COLUMBUS, OHIO>> Charisma Osborne had 19 points and Grandview High graduate Lauren Betts had 17 to help No. 2 UCLA beat No. 13 Ohio State 77-71 on Monday night.

UCLA (10- 0) overcame a sluggish first half and dominated the boards on the way to its

10th straight win of the season.

Ohio State (9-2) began the game leading 7- 0, shooting 3 of 4 and forcing two turnovers.

But the Bruins battled back. The two teams knotted at 17 points apiece after the first quarter which saw the Buckeyes fall cold late going 2 for 11 to close the period.

Kiki Rice had 15 points and Gabriela Jaquez had 11 points for the Bruins.

“They’ve responded from one loss at the beginning of the season to just really soaring and getting a lot better,” UCLA coach Cori Close said. “This means a lot because we have a lot of respect for them.”

Jacy Sheldon had a gamehigh 30 points and Taylor Thierry added 20 for the Buckeyes.

“I thought the problem tonight is we had too many possessions where the ball just kind of stuck and quit moving,” Ohio State coach Kevin Mcguff said.

“For us, to be at our best on offense, it’s when we get to what I like to call the next level of the offense, and we just didn’t get there enough tonight.”

The Bruins claimed their

10th win in a row and second straight over a ranked opponent. They are 3-0 against ranked teams this season. They also beat Uconn and Florida State.

“I don’t think we’re playing our best basketball,” Close said.

“I think we made a lot of errors down the stretch, but I think that we do have a group that I know has high standards.

“... I know they’re going to fight for that next step of growth.”