Women’s basketball to host two Pac-12 matchups without leading scorer

The Bruins may be without their leading scorer once again this weekend.

No. 10 UCLA women’s basketball (16-1, 5-1 Pac-12) will host Washington (10-7, 2-4) on Friday night at 7 p.m. The Bruins will then take on a second opponent from the Evergreen State on Sunday, facing Washington State (9-9, 2-4) at noon.

UCLA suffered its first defeat in a double-overtime loss at USC last week. The Bruins were without leading scorer junior forward Michaela Onyenwere during their loss to the Trojans, who was out with an ankle injury. Coach Cori Close said Onyenwere is currently day-to-day with her playing status uncertain for this weekend.

Close said other players will be forced to find a rhythm in Onyenwere’s absence.

“If we allow (Onyenwere’s absence) to teach us well, I think in the end, it might make us better,” Close said. “One of the things it exposes in us is how much we watch (Onyenwere). We have too much talent and too many skilled players to do that. We’re not (Onyenwere’s) team, we’re a really high level team together.”

UCLA was missing Onyenwere’s 18.9 points per game last week, and redshirt sophomore guard Lindsey Corsaro – who is averaging 7.0 points per game this season – was held scoreless against the Trojans, going 0-for-8 from the field.

Corsaro and the rest of the Bruin guards will have to find ways to make up for Onyenwere if she is out, as this weekend’s slate will feature three of the Pac-12’s top-10 scorers.

“For me, I just try to make the best read on the court,” Corsaro said. “Whether that’s driving to the basket, or shooting the open shoot, (I’m) just trying to step up and be aggressive for my team.”

Washington’s only double-digit scorer is guard Amber Melgoza, whose 15.4 points per game are good for eighth in the conference in scoring. Guard Missy Peterson will be the best 3-point shooter on the floor Friday, shooting at a 39.1% clip from beyond the arc.

Washington State boasts forward Borislava Hristova, who is second in the conference in scoring with 19.1 points per game.

And it’s not just scoring that UCLA could miss out on in Onyenwere’s absence.

The Bruins were outrebounded by 10 in last week’s matchup without Onyenwere, the Pac-12’s third-leading scorer, who is also the team’s leading rebounder.

Junior forward Lauryn Miller – the team’s second leading rebounder – has averaged 7.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. Miller recorded four points and eight rebounds in Onyenwere’s absence against USC, as her 29 minutes were her most of the entire season.

Miller said the team has responded well to Friday’s loss, using it as extra motivation in practice this week.

“We’ve done a really good job to bounce back, and we’ve decided that we’re going to use (the loss to USC) as fuel. We’re not going to sit here and be in a pity pond about it,” Miller said. “We’ve been really refocused and know that we want to start a new streak now.”

In order to jump-start a winning streak, UCLA will have to prolong Washington’s losing streak, as the Huskies have dropped their last four games and remain winless against ranked opponents of the season. The Cougars have also dropped their last two games, with their last victory coming in Seattle on Jan. 11 against the Huskies.

While the Bruins are coming off only one loss, they most recently logged their two worst performances from the field in conference play this season, as they converted 37.5% from the field against Colorado and a season-low 29.9% of their field goals against USC.

The latter mark was without Onyenwere’s 51.3% shooting from the field – a factor UCLA may have to take into account again this weekend.