Jaquez, No. 2 UCLA cruise past Niagara at Cayman Islands Classic

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (AP) — Gabriela Jaquez scored a game-high 23 points and Londynn Jones had 21 as No. 2 UCLA beat Niagara 97-46 Saturday at the Cayman Islands Classic.

Angela Dugalic added 14 points and had seven rebounds for the Bruins (6-0), who scored the game's first 23 points.

Niagara finally got on the board when Destiny Strother made a pair of free throws with 2:19 left in the first quarter. She finished with 16 points for the Purple Eagles (2-4).

The Bruins finished with 54 rebounds compared to Niagara’s 27. They outscored the Purple Eagles 64-10 in the paint in the first-ever meeting between the schools.

A day after beating No. 6 UConn, UCLA gave some rest to some of its starters. Center Lauren Betts played five minutes. She opened the scoring 22 seconds into the game and those were her only points. Kiki Rice played 20 minutes after finishing two assists shy of a triple-double on Friday night. She finished with eight points.

UCLA’s bench scored 48 of its 97 points, and 11 Bruins scored, the most for the team in a game this season.

BIG PICTURE

Niagara: While the game was never in doubt, Niagara forced 26 turnovers, which is the most for the Bruins in a game this season.

UCLA: Coming off its biggest win of the season on Friday — a 78-67 decision over UConn — UCLA cruised to its largest margin of victory this season.

UP NEXT

Niagara: At Maryland on Wednesday.

UCLA: At Arkansas on Sunday, Dec. 3.

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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball