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Women’s basketball conquers California in overtime, completing Bay Area sweep

Junior forward Michaela Onyenwere led No. 10 UCLA women’s basketball with 21 points in its overtime win against California. She also posted a team-high 29 points for the Bruins in their upset over No. 6 Stanford on Friday. (Joy Hong/Daily Bruin senior staff)

Women's basketball


No. 10 UCLA74
California70

By Jon Christon

Feb. 9, 2020 11:27 p.m.

Correction: The original version of this article incorrectly stated UCLA defeated Stanford in overtime. In fact, UCLA defeated California in overtime.

This post was updated Feb. 10 at 1:28 a.m. 

It took five extra minutes, but the Bruins completed a Bay Area sweep.

Two days after beating No. 6 Stanford (21-3, 10-2 Pac-12), No. 10 UCLA women’s basketball (21-2, 10-2) defeated California (9-14, 1-11) on Sunday by a final margin of 74-70 in overtime. The win gave the Bruins their fourth conference sweep of the season.

“Coming into this game, we knew we had to focus,” said junior forward Michaela Onyenwere. “(California) is a great team, and they gave us a run for our money – that’s something that will happen in Pac-12 games.”

After Onyenwere picked up two early fouls, UCLA was without its leading scorer for 15 minutes in the first half. The rest of the game, however, the junior played 24 out of the 25 available minutes while picking up only one foul.

When the Bruins found themselves trailing for the first time all game with 2:56 left in the third quarter, Onyenwere scored six of the team’s last eight points to give UCLA a five-point lead heading into the fourth frame.

After a fourth quarter in which she shot 1-of-5 and scored two points, Onyenwere scored six of the Bruins’ 11 overtime points to help push them ahead of the Golden Bears. She finished the game with a team-high 21 points.

“I knew in crunchtime the ball was going to go to me,” Onyenwere said. “I know my team has a lot of confidence in me to make shots and take those tough shots down the stretch, so that’s exactly what I wanted to do.”

UCLA’s second-leading scorer, redshirt senior guard Japreece Dean, was held to 2-of-16 from the field and scored six points, all in the second half and overtime.

Despite Dean’s struggles and Onyenwere’s early foul trouble, UCLA was able to jump to a double-digit lead early in the second quarter thanks in part to freshman guard Charisma Osborne, who scored 10 of the Bruins’ 14 second-quarter points.

“We were just pushing out in transition, and I was just hitting open shots,” Osborne said. “I know that (coach Cori Close) really sees me as a scorer, so I was just trying to do what I could for the team.”

Four players scored above their season scoring average – including Osborne, who finished with 17 points in a team-high 39 minutes.

Redshirt junior guard Natalie Chou and freshman guard Jaden Owens each scored more than their average on the season, with Chou putting up 12 and Owens scoring six.

As a team, the Bruins made seven 3s, the most they’ve made in a game since Jan. 17. All of them came in the first half, as the team attempted five shots from beyond the arc the rest of the game and didn’t convert a single one.

Close said this was part of the game plan.

“I’m glad that we didn’t let (3-point attempts) fly (in the second half),” Close said. “We needed to go to the rack. I thought it was really important to go downhill and try to get ourselves to the free-throw line.”

In overtime, the Bruins shot eight free throws – including two from Onyenwere – which was more than they had in the previous two halves combined.

With just six games left in the season, UCLA will have three more chances to sweep their conference opponents.

“We know we have a target on our backs,” Onyenwere said. “It’s a great conference and every single game is gonna be a really good game.”

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Jon Christon | Sports senior staff
Christon is currently a Sports senior staff writer. He was previously the Sports editor on the men's basketball and football beats and the assistant Sports editor on the women's basketball, softball, men's tennis and women's tennis beats. Christon was previously a contributor on the women's basketball and softball beats.
Christon is currently a Sports senior staff writer. He was previously the Sports editor on the men's basketball and football beats and the assistant Sports editor on the women's basketball, softball, men's tennis and women's tennis beats. Christon was previously a contributor on the women's basketball and softball beats.
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