Women’s basketball fights back in triple overtime to secure win over Wildcats

For the second time this season, Michaela Onyenwere’s putback kept the Bruins alive.

“There were a lot of tips, it wasn’t just me,” said the sophomore forward. “But I kind of just saw where the ball was going, and then once I got it in my hands … it was a shot I had to make.”

[Related: Women’s basketball achieves 84-79 overtime victory after back-and-forth battle with Cal]

With UCLA women’s basketball (11-9, 4-4 Pac-12) down 61-59 during regulation, Onyenwere’s offensive rebound and layup with three seconds left forced overtime, and eventually allowed the Bruins to grind out a 98-93 triple-overtime victory over Arizona (14-6, 4-5).

Three Bruins played over 50 minutes in the program’s first-ever triple-overtime contest – a back-and-forth game with 24 lead changes that lasted nearly three hours.

“You have to will yourself to get your body to do things, because physically, everybody was exhausted,” said coach Cori Close. “It was the team that could collectively and mentally focus through fatigue.”

UCLA took an early six-point lead in the second quarter when senior guard Japreece Dean drained her first 3-pointer of the afternoon, but the Wildcats outrebounded the Bruins 26-18 in the half and took a 33-30 lead at the break.

“It was just super uncharacteristic of our team,” Onyenwere said. “We knew that we’re a team that prides ourselves on defense and prides ourselves on rebounds.”

Onyenwere finished with 28 points – including another layup with 16 seconds left in the first extra period that eventually forced a second overtime. The forward also added 13 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the season.

The 55-minute game included 60 combined fouls with five players fouling out. But unlike in UCLA’s overtime loss to Kentucky on Nov. 23 – when the Bruins struggled from the free throw line – UCLA shot 85 percent from the charity stripe in the overtime periods and went 28-of-35 in the game.

Close said that because the Bruins shot just 35 percent from the field, rebounding and free throws won them the game.

“We lost that overtime game (to Kentucky) because of free throws and rebounding,” Close said. “So I think to show our growth, … I’m really proud of the guts it took to control those things.”

UCLA – which is averaging a conference-best 17.9 offensive rebounds per game – pulled down 27 offensive boards, which gave the Bruins a second-chance opportunity on nearly half of its field goal attempts.

Dean, although only 5-foot-6, leapt for an offensive rebound and earned an and-one floater in the third overtime to give the Bruins a 90-89 advantage – a lead they held for the remainder of the game with free throws.

Dean finished with a career-high 26 points, seven rebounds and went a 9-of-9 from the free throw line. Redshirt senior forward Lajahna Drummer logged 18 points and a career-high 17 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season.

The Bruins completed their first two-game Pac-12 weekend sweep of the season, and sit right behind the conference’s five ranked teams at sixth place.

“(This weekend) was super important,” Dean said. “A lot of teams are beating other teams, and we just have to keep winning and stringing them together.”