LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Despite a career high 24 points from Erika Williams, No. 24 UCLA defeated CSU Bakersfield 82-68 in women's basketball action Saturday at Pauley Pavilion.

An early 8-0 UCLA run gave the Bruins an 11-4 first quarter lead. The Roadrunners would go 0-for-10 at one point from the field during the first quarter before Batabe Zempare broke the drought with a basket at the 4:42 mark. CSUB forced three UCLA turnovers and cut the lead to 11-8 when Alyssa Shannon sank a pair of free throws with 4:00 to go in the quarter.  Keyed by 12 straight points from Jordin Canada, the Bruins would lead 23-10 at the end of one.  Canada made six of her seven tries in the first period, scoring 14 of the 23 Bruins' points.

UCLA (4-2) made six of their first nine three-point field goal attempts, taking a 36-17 lead on a Paulina Hersler three-point field goal midway through the second quarter.  The Roadrunners rallied, making six of their final seven field goal attempts of the first half (including an Erika Williams three-pointer at the buzzer) to head into halftime trailing 47-33.

"We couldn't get a shot to fall early, and we didn't follow the game plan, so that spotted them a big lead," said CSUB head coach Greg McCall.

Shooting was again at the forefront of the third quarter. The Bruins hit four of their first six attempts from the field, compared to 1-of-9 for the Roadrunners. CSUB would only make four field goals during the third quarter (4-for-16) as UCLA stretched their lead to 68-47.

The Roadrunners would chip away at the Bruins' lead in the fourth quarter. A Tylinn Carter free throw reduced the UCLA advantage to 75-61 with just under four to play.  After a defensive stop, Carter's jumper cut it to 12, but Canada responded with a quick layup and was fouled by Carter on the play. The resulting three-point play pushed the lead back to 15.

CSUB failed to score on their next two possessions. UCLA came up with rebounds both times with Kennedy Burke going to the line after being fouled. She connected on 1-of-2. The Roadrunners again missed on offense, leading to a Kelli Hayes jumper. Addi Walters sank a three from the corner to reduce the lead to 82-66. UCLA committed a turnover at the 55-second mark. Walters' jumper cut it to 82-68 19 seconds later. CSUB called timeout and fouled Burke who made 1-of-2. Nirra Fields stole the ball from Walters and held onto to it as the final horn sounded.

"I liked our effort, but we dug ourselves too big of a hole to get out of," McCall said.

Williams was 6-of-8 from three-point range, 9-of-16 overall from the field. The 6-0 redshirt junior also added eight rebounds. Carter charted a season high 16 points, making 6-of-9 field goal attempts. Zempare grabbed 11 rebounds and scored nine points for the Roadrunners.

"Erika played really well and played hard," McCall said. "We need for her to continue to do that. Tylinn started to step up and we are going to need that from her as we we move forward."

Canada hit 10 of her 12 field goal attempts as she led all scorers with 25 points. Monique Billings posted 19 for UCLA. All 12 of Kari Korver's points came from beyond the three-point line for the Bruins.

The Bruins shot 58% (30-of-52) for the game, compared to 37% (25-of-68) for the Roadrunners. CSUB actually shot better from three-point range (39%), making 11 from long range. UCLA went to the free throw line 15 more times (14-of-25, compared to 7-of-10 for CSUB).

The Roadrunners (1-7) return home Tuesday when CSUB hosts Pepperdine (2-6) at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at Vallitix.com. The game can also be seen on the WAC Digital Network.

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