Southern’s Tionna Lidge barely jumped for the opening tip. With UCLA’s Lauren Betts on the other side, the result seemed inevitable.
Betts had 14 points and six rebounds Friday as No. 1-seeded UCLA cruised to a 84-46 win over No. 16 Southern in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Pauley Pavilion. UCLA set program record for the largest margin of victory in an NCAA tournament game, besting a 75-43 thrashing of Texas A&M in 2017.
The Bruins (31-2) advanced to host No. 8 seed Richmond in the second round of Spokane Region 1 on Sunday.