Pac-12 Tournament: UCLA women hold off UW Huskies 58-46
Mar 4, 2021, 10:50 PM
LAS VEGAS (AP) – Michaela Onyenwere scored six of her 12 points in the fourth quarter to help No. 9 UCLA hold off the UW Huskies in a 58-46 victory in a Pac-12 quarterfinal on Thursday.
UCLA 58, UW Huskies 46: Box score
Charisma Osborne also had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Bruins (15-4), while Lauryn Miller had nine points and Natalie Chou added seven.
UCLA staved off upset-minded Washington, which pulled within three early in the fourth but couldn’t gain enough momentum to seize control of the game.
Quay Miller had a game-high 19 points with seven rebounds, while Tameiya Sadler chipped in 12 for Washington (7-14).
After cutting the Bruins’ lead to 44-41 with 8:22 left in the game, the Huskies missed their next four shots and turned the ball over on another possession. Washington’s only points during a crucial five-minute stretch came from two free throws by Sadler.
Meanwhile, the Bruins hit five consecutive shots from the field, added a couple of free throws, and used a 12-2 run to open a 56-43 lead with 2:52 left and never looked back.
It looked as if UCLA was going to put the game away early, as the Bruins held Washington scoreless for more than four minutes and without a field goal for nearly six, during a first-period stretch that allowed them to use an 11-0 run and build a 16-5 lead.
Emily Bessoir gave the Bruins a 15-point lead moments into the second quarter with a long 3-pointer, but Washington turned the tables and capitalized on seven turnovers by UCLA, which also shot just 25.0% from the field in the second quarter.
The Huskies used a 13-0 run over more than seven minutes to pull within two before UCLA’s Lindsey Corsaro made a 3 and moments later a layup, putting UCLA ahead by five for a halftime lead of 30-25.
Chou’s defense late in the third quarter helped thwart another Huskies rally, as she recorded three steals in less than two minutes, one of which allowed the Bruins to extend their lead to five, at 42-37.
BIG PICTURE
UW Huskies: Sadler finished her first Pac 12 Tournament impressively, as she tallied 30 points, 10 assists, and seven steals. The freshman guard was the Huskies’ most well-rounded player in 68-54 first-round upset of No. 6 seed Colorado, as she scored 18 points, dished a career-high eight assists, and nabbed three steals
UCLA: The Bruins missed nine of their last 11 shots in the first half. They looked like the complete opposite of a team that just registered a pair of record-breaking shooting performances in its last two games, most recently against USC on Feb. 26, when they buried 16 3-pointers on 23 attempts (69.6%), the most 3-pointers in a single game in team history. Thursday, UCLA managed just 2 of 18 (11.1%) from beyond the arc.
UP NEXT
Washington: Season is likely over.
UCLA: Will face Arizona in Friday’s semifinal.
