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Lauren Betts returns and Cori Close earns win No. 300 as UCLA blows out Nebraska

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Lauren Betts returns and Cori Close earns win No. 300 as UCLA blows out Nebraska

Lauren Betts took the pass in the post midway through the third quarter, firmly grabbing the ball with both hands. She swung her arms one way, then another, until she found the positioning she wanted.

It was then that UCLA’s center rose for another layup against an overmatched defender.

An unbeaten team got better Sunday afternoon with its top interior presence back in the lineup.

In her return from a knee injury that had sidelined her for two games, Betts and teammate Kiki Rice powered top-ranked UCLA to a 91-54 victory over Nebraska at Pauley Pavilion in the Bruins’ Big Ten Conference home opener.

Flashing her usual dominant form, Betts finished with a game-high 21 points on eight-for-15 shooting to go with eight rebounds. Rice was practically flawless on the way to 18 points — including the 1,000th of her career — while making all eight shots and logging six rebounds, four steals and two assists, her only blemish coming on three turnovers.

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UCLA’s Kiki Rice, left, dribbles past Nebraska’s Allison Weidner during the Bruins’ win Sunday.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

“I felt really good,” Betts said. “Obviously, coming in I was a little bit nervous obviously with my knee, but I think my teammates and my coaches just really built me up going into it today and helped relieve some of those nerves.”

There was more to celebrate than another runaway victory given that it gave Cori Close, already the winningest coach in UCLA women’s basketball history, win No. 300 with the team.

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Close said she wasn’t aware that she was on the brink of the milestone, her players surprising her with a confetti shower in the locker room.

“I literally didn’t know why they were doing that,” Close said. “ … I am just focused. My word for the year — and we’ve all picked one — is ‘present’ and it was being prioritized. Truly, that’s all I want to focus on, is being present. I’m thankful [for having] 300 wins and I still get to be the head coach here and I get to work with amazing people and have this be our alumni weekend.”

Forward Timea Gardiner added 15 points off the bench for the Bruins, who shot 55.9% and made 21 of 28 free throws, offsetting their struggles from long range. UCLA held leads as large as 38 points despite committing 26 turnovers and making only four of 17 three-pointers (23.5%).

The Bruins (13-0 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) pulled away by shutting down a high-scoring Nebraska offense that entered the game averaging 79.1 points. Against an active UCLA defense that routinely poked away passes for steals and proved bothersome with its superior size, the Cornhuskers (10-3, 1-1) shot only 33.3% and committed 19 turnovers.

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No one was more flustered than Nebraska center Alexis Markowski, whose three points were far below the team-leading 15 points she averaged entering the game. Plagued by foul trouble, Markowski made one of eight shots and committed two turnovers.

After rolling over its first dozen opponents by an average of 32.1 points, UCLA found itself in an unusual spot midway through the second quarter.

Guard Britt Prince’s three-pointer capped a 7-0 run for Nebraska, pushing the Cornhuskers into a 24-23 lead after the Bruins had missed eight straight shots.

Nebraska’s advantage was all the more surprising given that Markowski spent most of the first half in foul trouble and did not score until making a layup with 4:59 left in the second quarter. But on the Cornhuskers’ next possession, Markowski committed an offensive foul and had to come out for the rest of the first half because it was her third foul.

Sparked by a flurry of steals and some strong moves in the post from Betts, UCLA rolled off the next 12 points on the way to taking a 37-30 halftime advantage.

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With their star center back in the fold, the Bruins felt more like themselves.

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Defending champion UCLA women’s basketball lands top transfer, continues roster overhaul

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Defending champion UCLA women’s basketball lands top transfer, continues roster overhaul

UCLA women’s basketball team has added some star power as its revamped roster begins to take shape.

Former Iowa State forward Addy Brown announced Thursday she is committing to UCLA, giving the Bruins one of the top players in the portal.

Brown averaged 11.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game while shooting 43.1% from the floor and 33.8% from three-point distance with the Cyclones last season. She played just 21 games due to injury, but she is one of the better two-way players in the nation on the transfer market.

The 6-foot-2 forward co-starred with Audi Crooks for Iowa State the past few seasons and was a part of the mass exodus from the Cyclones’ program.

The Bruins reeled in former North Carolina junior guard Elina Aarnisalo and former Texas Christian senior guard Donovyn Hunter a few weeks ago, adding two more experienced players to the depleted starting lineup after a record six UCLA players were selected in the WNBA draft.

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UCLA also signed Arkansas sophomore guard Bonnie Deas earlier this month. She is likely to start at point guard for the Bruins and is one of the best rebounding guards in the nation.

Along with returner Timea Gardiner, the Bruins are starting to form somewhat of a core to defend their national championship. Gardiner was a starter during UCLA’s 2024-25 Final Four run, but missed all of this past season with injury and has one season of eligibility left.

A lineup with Deas and Aarnisalo in the backcourt, Hunter at the three and Gardiner or Brown at the four and adding another big or Sienna Betts at the five would be a competitive lineup in the Big Ten.

Before going to TCU, Hunter played two seasons at Oregon State where she earned All-Pac-12 Defensive Team honorable mention and All-Pac-12 Freshman team honors. This past season with a Horned Frogs team that went to the Sweet 16, she was third in scoring with 10.2 points per game and averaged 3.2 rebounds per contest. She also shot 45.7% from the field and was 33.7% from beyond the arc.

Aarnisalo played her freshman year in Westwood after she originally committed to UCLA in 2025. Due to injuries from point guard Kiki Rice at the start of the 2024-25 season, she was forced into action early her freshman season and finished the year averaging 5.1 points per game.

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The Helsinki, Finland, native averaged 10.2 points per game for the Tar Heels as a sophomore last season while shooting 47.3% from the field and 40.3% from the arc. The Bruins will desperately need to replace the three-point production lost with the departure of Rice, Gianna Kneepkens and Charlisse Leger-Walker.

UCLA coach Cori Close said she wanted to sign five players from the portal. She probably needs one more guard and a little more forward depth coming off the bench following the departures of Gabriela Jaquez and Angela Dugalic.

Lena Bilic and Amanda Muse are returners coming off the bench who got a little bit of playing time in the tournament and should have much larger roles, but they are still relatively unproven in late-game situations. They will get a chance to develop as backups with some more Power Four experienced starters now in the fold.

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WWE to hold premium live event in Saudi Arabia amid Iran ceasefire

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WWE to hold premium live event in Saudi Arabia amid Iran ceasefire

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Saudi Arabia was among the countries seeing missiles fly into their airspace as a conflict broke out in the Middle East between the U.S. and Iran.

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The prospect of Iran targeting its Middle Eastern neighbors like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates put some sporting events on hold and questioned others. Formula 1 races in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain were canceled and rumors swirled around whether future WWE events could be held in the kingdom.

Roman Reigns celebrates his win during WWE’s Royal Rumble at Riyadh Season Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Jan. 31, 2026. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)

As the Trump administration brokered a ceasefire with Iran, WWE announced on Thursday that its Night of Champions premium live event will be held in Riyadh on June 27.

“We are proud to welcome Night of Champions back to Riyadh and look forward to delivering another unforgettable night of WWE action for fans in the Kingdom and around the world,” General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Al-Sheikh said in a news release.

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PRO WRESTLING STARS CHRIS SABIN, ALEX SHELLEY TALK POSSIBILITY OF WWE USING TNA’S GIMMICK MATCHES

Sami Zayn makes his entrance during Night of Champions at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 28, 2025. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)

The release touted that WrestleMania 43 will still be held in Riyadh in 2027. It will be the first time that WrestleMania is held outside the U.S.

WWE president Nick Khan was adamant before WrestleMania 42 that the event will still take place in Saudi Arabia despite the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

“We’re doing WrestleMania next year in Saudi,” he said at a Sports Business Journal event, via The Sporting Tribune. “First time ever, WrestleMania will be outside the United States or Canada. And we’ve had a big, fruitful partnership with them.”

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John Cena wrestles CM Punk during Night of Champions at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 28, 2025. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)

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He added that those complaining about WrestleMania being held in Saudi Arabia were a “vocal minority.”

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Are you still hoping to buy Olympic tickets? LA28 shares terms for second ticket drop

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Are you still hoping to buy Olympic tickets? LA28 shares terms for second ticket drop

Thousand-dollar tickets and hundreds of dollars in fees shocked some hopeful Olympic fans this month, but they did not keep LA28 from boasting strong sales in the committee’s first ticket drop.

LA28 announced Thursday that it sold more than 4 million Olympic tickets during the first ticket drop. The private organizing committee will have a second ticket drop in August with “refreshed inventory across all Olympic sports at a range of price points.”

But after the popularity of the first purchasing period, many of the lower-priced tickets have already been scooped up.

LA28 said roughly half of the total 1 million $28 tickets were sold during the locals presale, which was limited to people living near venue cities in Southern California and Oklahoma City.

The average price per Olympic ticket is less than $200, which includes a mandatory 24% service fee, and LA28 said about 75% of all tickets, including final events, will be under $400. The premier seats at high-demand events command more than $1,000 per ticket, but the highest priced categories make up about 5% of the total ticket inventory.

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Artistic gymnastics sold out the quickest in Drop 1. Four new Olympic sports — flag football, lacrosse, softball and squash — sold all their available inventory for the first drop. After five days of local presale, global ticket sales opened and drew fans from 85 countries and all 50 states and U.S. territories. The largest international sales came from the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico and Japan.

For the first female-majority Olympic Games, LA28 reported that women’s Olympic sessions outsold men’s 93% to 88% during the first drop.

“The response to our initial on-sale was nothing short of historic. Fans from near and far have spoken: the world wants to be part of the LA28 Games,” LA28 chief executive officer Reynold Hoover said in a statement. “The success of Drop 1 is about more than momentum — it reflects LA28’s commitment to delivering a fiscally responsible Games that create a lasting legacy for Los Angeles and its communities.”

Drop 2, which will begin in August, will have additional tickets across all Olympic sports, including those that may have sold out during the first purchasing windows. The registration period for Drop 2 opened Thursday and will continue until July 22. Fans who registered for the first drop of tickets but did not receive a time slot and fans who did not buy their maximum 12 general ticket allotment will automatically be entered into the random lottery Drop 2. The new registration period is only required for anybody who did not sign up for the initial drop.

Fans are still limited to 12 Olympic tickets and up to 12 soccer tickets that don’t count toward the general maximum. There is a four ticket per ceremony limit for the opening and closing ceremony that count toward the 12-ticket maximum, which is cumulative across all LA28 presales and ticket drops.

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LA28 will have multiple ticket drops with assigned purchasing time slots before ticket sales move to a first-come, first-served format closer to the Games, which open on July 14, 2028. LA28 began its ticketing process earlier than most other Olympic Games with tickets going on sale more than two years in advance of the opening ceremony. The early timeline has created excitement for the first Summer Olympics in the United States since Atlanta 1996, but also prompted concerns about scheduling. Fans clamored for tickets with little information about which teams or athletes would be competing in most sessions.

Tickets are not refundable, but fans can opt for verified resale when LA28 launches its official resale system in 2027. AXS and Eventim is the official secondary ticket marketplace of the LA28 Games and Ticketmaster and Sports Illustrated Tickets have also signed on as additional verified resale platforms.

LA28 will have 14 million tickets available for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which would eclipse the record of 12 million tickets sold for the Paris Games. Paris 2024 sold an about 9.5 million tickets for the Olympics, but used a different ticket system than LA28. For Paris, 3.5 million tickets were sold during the first phase, during which fans were required to buy tickets to at least three different sports instead of the option for single-event tickets available during LA28’s Drop 1 process.

Tickets for the 2028 Paralympics, which will be the first in L.A.’s history, will go on sale in 2027. Ticket sales and hospitality are expected to cover about $2.5 billion of LA28’s expected $7.1 billion budget for the first Games in L.A. in more than 40 years.

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