Women’s basketball falls to unranked Washington State in upset loss
Junior forward Monique Billings had 18 points and 12 rebounds, but it was not enough as UCLA fell to Washington State. (Jennifer Hu/Daily Bruin staff)
By Grant Sugimura
Jan. 7, 2017 11:36 a.m.
The UCLA women’s basketball team is No. 7 in the country and is pegged to win the Pac-12. The team has 22 straight wins against unranked opponents, seven consecutive wins on the road, a 52-7 record all-time against Washington State and has only two losses – both against top-six teams.
Meanwhile, the Cougars are sub-.500 and coming off a seven-game road trip during which they lost six straight. All of this would suggest a certain expected outcome. This was not the case.
The Bruins (11-3, 2-1 Pac-12) fell to the unranked Cougars (7-8, 2-2) 82-73 in Washington State’s biggest upset in program history.
A relatively even game throughout three quarters, Washington State was finally able to pull away by outscoring UCLA 31-21 in the fourth quarter.
En route to the upset, three percentages stood out: field goals, 3-pointers and free throws. In all of these categories, the Cougars had the advantage.
Washington State shot 52.3, 31.6 and 57.1 percent, respectively, while UCLA only notched 34.1, 22.7 and 54.5 percent.
The biggest disparity here is the nearly 20 percent difference in field-goal percentage and the Bruins were only able to keep up because they attempted 82 field goals – a season high.
Junior forward Monique Billings continued her season of double-doubles as she led the team with 12 rebounds and pilled on 18 points while going 4-of-8 from the charity stripe.
Guards Jordin Canada and Kennedy Burke also had productive scoring nights as the junior and sophomore had 19 and 18 points, respectively. However, it was Burke who had the far more efficient game, going 7-of-11 from the field while Canada was a mere 7-of-22.
Beyond those three, no other Bruin scored in the double digits.
On the other side of the court, freshman guard Chanelle Molina dropped a career-high 33 points.
Molina’s career night was the most post scored on the Bruins since Washington’s Giuliana Mendiola notched 43 points 14 years ago.
The Hawaii native, and graduate of the girls basketball powerhouse Konawaena High School, also added on seven assists, five rebounds and a steal in 29 minutes of play.
Next, UCLA will once again go against a lower-ranked team. This time, however, it will be against No. 11 Washington on Jan. 8.
