The No. 4 Texas Longhorns beat the No. 3 UCLA Bruins 76-65 on Wednesday in a non-conference matchup between top-five undefeated teams in the Players Era Championship. The Longhorns led the majority of the game, including by 20 points at halftime, before UCLA cut the lead down to four late in the fourth quarter.
The Texas duo of Rori Harmon and Madison Booker led the way for the Longhorns. Harmon had 26 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds. Harmon iced the game with late-game free throws.
Booker also filled up the stat sheet with 16 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists, with most of her points coming from her signature mid-range pull-up. Most of Booker's points came in the first half.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Longhorns' Bryanna Preston, Ashton Judd and Aaliyah Crump were out with injuries in Wednesday's game.
Gianna Kneepkens, Kiki Rice and Charlisse Leger-Walker led the comeback effort in the second half for the Bruins. The Bruins outscored the Longhorns 22-17 in the third and 18-12 in the fourth quarter.
Kneepkens and Rice both scored a team-high 17 points, with Kneepkens adding 2 assists and 2 rebounds and Rice posting 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Leger-Walker ended with 13 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists.
Bruins star Lauren Betts was unable to get going, with Texas denying and sending help-side defense and double-teams when she entered the post. Betts finished the game with 8 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Betts also exited early in the third quarter with what looked like an arm injury before returning. Betts only had 2 points after going down.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Longhorns are now 6-0 and will play the winner of No. 2 South Carolina vs. Duke on Thursday night. The Bruins are 6-1 and will face the loser of that game.
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