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The No. 9 UCLA Bruins raced out at a blazing pace Sunday afternoon in their matchup with the Michigan Wolverines and didn’t look back from there, cruising to an 84-64 win.
UCLA (7-1) opened the game with a 14-0 run, forcing Michigan head coach Kim Barnes Arico to call a timeout before the midway point of the first quarter.
The Bruins quickly got back to their scoring ways after the rest, however, going on another tear and working up to a 23-6 edge, leading to another Michigan timeout with 3:02 to go in the opening frame.
Not much changed for either squad in the second period; UCLA’s starters — Kari Korver, Jordin Canada, Kennedy Burke, Kelli Hayes and Monique Billings — showed their strength for the Bruins, combining for 40 of the Bruins’ 45 first-half points.
Michigan’s Hallie Thome, who averages 27.6 minutes and 14 points per game, picked up three fouls in the first half and was limited to just seven minutes of action through the opening two frames. She finished with 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting for the Wolverines.
UCLA’s Billings had a double-double after the first half alone, recording 16 rebounds and 11 points. She only had two field goals in the half but went 7-for-7 at the foul line through the first two frames.
Michigan was forced to call its third timeout of the game in the second quarter, and went to the locker room trailing 45-25.
As they did the first, the Bruins opened up the second half aggressively, scoring the first eight points of the third quarter to give themselves a 53-25 lead.
Canada and Billings continued to pace UCLA, finishing with 16 and 19 points, respectively. Billings also grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds and Canada had 14 assists.
Katelynn Flaherty, who is averaging 19.6 points per game for Michigan this season, got hot for the Wolverines in the fourth quarter, hitting three triples. She finished with 14.
Wolverine teammate Kysre Gondrezick led Michigan with 18 points, but her contributions weren’t enough to overcome the early aggression and collective effort by the Bruins’ starters. The loss drops Michigan to 8-3 on the season.