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UCLA women’s basketball kicks off NCAA tournament journey with win against Wyoming

Senior forward Michaela Onyenwere again led No. 3 seed UCLA women’s basketball in scoring, recording 25 points on 9-of-17 shooting in the Bruins’ first-round victory. Onyenwere scored 15 of her 25 points in the first half. (David Rimer/Daily Bruin staff)

Women’s basketball


No. 14 seed Wyoming48
No. 3 seed UCLA69

By Gavin Carlson

March 22, 2021 9:27 p.m.

This post was updated March 22 at 10:56 p.m.

After higher seeds won all of the 16 NCAA tournament games Sunday, three were upset prior to the final game Monday. 

The Bruins avoided being the fourth.

No. 3 seed UCLA women’s basketball (17-5, 12-4 Pac-12) defeated No. 14 seed Wyoming (14-10, 8-8 Mountain West) 69-48 to advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament. The Bruins jumped out to a 12-point lead after the first quarter and outscored the Cowgirls in all four periods.

While she expressed concern about playing the last game of the first round, coach Cori Close said she was pleased with her team’s energy early on.

“I felt like we were just waiting forever – I just didn’t know how that would translate,” Close said. “I thought we came out with really good energy, and we executed the gameplan. … That set the tone for the rest of the game.”

After trading 3-pointers to begin the game, UCLA went on a 10-0 run including seven points from Michaela Onyenwere. The senior forward’s four first-quarter field goals and 11 points both equaled those marks for the entire Wyoming team, though it took Onyenwere eight fewer shots to do so.

In the first game of what is likely her final tournament run with UCLA, Onyenwere finished with 25 points and moved into fifth on the all-time scoring list.

Close said Onyenwere is one of the greatest Bruins and also praised her selflessness. 

She’s a top-five player to ever play at UCLA,” Close said. “The best thing about Michaela is she could care less. That’s a wonderful thing that maybe when she brings her kids back to Pauley Pavilion someday she’ll enjoy, but I can tell you right now she’s not giving it one thought.”

The Bruins controlled the paint throughout the opening period by outscoring the Cowgirls 14-4 in the key and outrebounding them 12-6. UCLA shot 56% from the field and all seven players recorded a rebound to jump out to a 23-11 first-quarter lead.

The inside advantage continued in the second quarter as the Bruins added another 14 points in the paint and nine rebounds versus eight and six for the Cowgirls, respectively.

All five UCLA starters shot at least 50% from the field in the first half, including nine points on 4-of-7 shooting from sophomore guard Charisma Osborne and seven points on 3-of-5 shooting from redshirt senior guard Natalie Chou. Wyoming meanwhile did not have a single player score more than seven points and shot 34.6%, resulting in a 40-26 Bruin lead at the break.

After attempting five shots or less in each of her last two games, Chou took five shots in the first half. She finished with 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting in her first tournament game as a Bruin after making two tournament runs with Baylor earlier in her career.

Chou credited the coaching staff and her teammates for motivation after her recent lack of aggression on offense.

“I just want to do whatever I can do to help my team be successful,” Chou said. “Over the little stretch break we had, my teammates and my coaches – especially coach Tasha (Brown) – have really been putting wind in my sails and giving me confidence. They’ve been encouraging me. I really appreciate that, but I just wanted to do whatever I could for my team.”

The scoring trio of Onyenwere, Chou and Osborne helped UCLA close out Wyoming in the second half.

Onyenwere led the Bruins with 10 second-half points and Chou added two of her three 3-pointers in the third quarter. All-Pac-12 member Osborne finished the game with a double-double, recording 15 points and 10 rebounds while adding four assists without a turnover in her first-career NCAA tournament game.

“Find me another guard in the country that has a more complete game than her,” Close said. “I love when she uses all of the things in her toolbox like rebounding, leadership. Her basketball IQ is really high, and she’s in a really great position to be one of the best guards in the country.”

UCLA will now take on No. 6 seed Texas in the Round of 32 on Wednesday for a trip to the Sweet 16. The Bruins and Longhorns split two Sweet 16 matchups in 2016 and 2018 with UCLA winning the most recent postseason showdown.

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Gavin Carlson | Sports staff
Carlson is currently a staff writer on the football, men's basketball and women's basketball beats. He was previously a reporter on the softball and men's golf beats.
Carlson is currently a staff writer on the football, men's basketball and women's basketball beats. He was previously a reporter on the softball and men's golf beats.
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