Women’s basketball bounces back from USC loss with win over Washington
Junior forward Michaela Onyenwere scored a career-high 31 points for No. 10 UCLA women’s basketball in the Bruins’ win over Washington on Friday night. (Jason Zhu/Daily Bruin)
By Jon Christon
Jan. 25, 2020 7:56 p.m.
The Bruins are still undefeated when junior forward Michaela Onyenwere plays.
After losing its first game of the season last week, No. 10 UCLA women’s basketball (17-1, 6-1 Pac-12) defeated Washington (10-8, 2-5) by a final score of 85-80. The win gave the Bruins the all-time series advantage 33-32.
Just like last week, UCLA had a six-point lead in an overtime period, but the results differed this time around, as the Bruins were able to hold on to the lead. One of the differences in the two games was the return of Onyenwere, who put up a career-high 31 points after her one-game absence because of an ankle injury.
“(The USC game) was pretty rough, just to see my team go down and knowing that I couldn’t do anything about it on the bench,” Onyenwere said. “But I knew that we were going to bounce back because we are a bunch of fighters. I was really happy to be back on the court with my teammates.”
After shooting just 2-of-9 in the first half, Onyenwere went 6-of-8 in the third quarter, including four second-chance points off of her misses. The junior scored eight of UCLA’s last 10 points in the third to take a four-point lead going into the final quarter.
Onyenwere – who scored 25 of her 31 points in the second half and overtime – said a challenge from coach Cori Close was the difference in the game.
“(Close) just challenged us at halftime,” Onyenwere said. “We knew we weren’t executing the game plan, and I think that we needed to take that to heart.”
The Bruins extended their lead to as much as eight in the fourth quarter, but after a 10-0 Husky run, UCLA found itself down five with less than three minutes left.
In the last 2 minutes, 5 seconds of the fourth quarter, redshirt junior guard Natalie Chou made two 3s to give the Bruins a one-point lead and forced a turnover that allowed UCLA to extend its lead with free throws.
Last week without Onyenwere in the lineup, the Bruins turned to Chou to shoot a game-tying three at the end of the first overtime.
Chou said her teammates are the ones to thank when her shot is falling.
“My teammates have been so encouraging throughout the whole season – even with my dips,” Chou said. “That’s so much confidence in me and it means the world to me. No matter what, they tell me to keep shooting.”
Chou finished the game with 18 points, four rebounds and three steals while making a season-high four of her nine attempts from beyond the arc. This was Chou’s second game scoring double figures since she was taken out of the starting lineup earlier in the season.
Chou’s four made 3s were the Bruins’ only of the night, as they shot 4-of-28 from the perimeter.
Freshman guard Charisma Osborne, UCLA’s best 3-point shooter in terms of total makes, finished the game 0-of-5 from deep and 2-of-10 overall.
Despite her poor night shooting the ball, the freshman set career highs in rebounds with 12, steals with five and assists with four.
“(Osborne’s) got so much heart, power and quickness,” Close said. “And I’m proud of the mental toughness that she showed because if she hadn’t come back and rebounded like she did, or played defense in spite of having a tough scoring night, we wouldn’t have won the game.”
Next up for UCLA is Washington State on Sunday at noon in Pauley Pavilion.
