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UCLA women’s basketball defeats CSUN despite final-half injuries

Graduate transfer forward IImar’I Thomas posts up against a CSUN defender. Thomas scored 21 points in the contest for the second-straight game to start her UCLA career. (Jason Zhu/Daily Bruin staff)

Women's basketball


Cal State Northridge46
UCLA73

By Gavin Carlson

Nov. 19, 2021 6:39 p.m.

With just under five minutes to go in the first half, the Bruins found themselves down by five points.

They subsequently responded with a 13-0 run to close the half, and would not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the game.

No. 20 UCLA women’s basketball (2-0) defeated Cal State Northridge (1-2) by a score of 73-46 on Thursday night in Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins outscored the Matadors 60-29 in the final three quarters of the game.

Coach Cori Close said her team has to make many adjustments after its performance against a CSUN team that lost to another Pac-12 foe already this season, falling to Arizona by 43 points less than two weeks ago.

“The reality is that we’re not a very good team yet,” Close said. “Don’t let 2-0 deceive you – change is hard and we have some stuff we have to change and we have to change it fast.”

Similar to its season opener, UCLA faced an early deficit after the first quarter, trailing CSUN 17-13 after the opening 10 minutes. The Bruins shot 4-of-16 from the field in the period and went over seven minutes without converting a field goal. UCLA also turned the ball over six times and allowed CSUN to shoot 7-of-12 from the field and 3-of-5 from behind the arc.

Close said the Bruins are creating a bad habit of coming out slow in the first quarter, which is something she said they will have to fix in practice.

“We got to learn from that, both (first) quarters we weren’t ready to go,” Close said. “That’s a habit that has to change and (the players) have to take responsibility for that.”

UCLA’s second-quarter run began with a layup from redshirt senior guard Chantel Horvat – her first points of the season after she missed the season opener because she was rehabbing a past injury.

Junior guard Charisma Osborne followed a six-point first quarter with six free throws in a two-minute stretch in the second period. Two redshirt freshmen helped complete the run, as forward Izzy Anstey scored a mid-range jump shot before guard Dominique Onu ended the half with a last-second corner 3-pointer, pushing the Bruins’ lead to 34-26 at the halftime break.

Graduate transfer forward IImar’I Thomas nearly outscored the Matadors in the second half by herself, as she scored 15 of the Bruins’ 39 points compared to 20 total for CSUN.

Thomas – who led the team with 21 points on 10-of-14 shooting – said she credits her new teammates for taking defensive attention away from her.

“I would definitely just praise my teammates and my coaches – they’re able to put me in great positions,” Thomas said. “When you’re on the court with a whole bunch of other threats it just makes it harder for the other team to zone in on me.”

Thomas has now scored over 20 points on at least 55% shooting in each of her first two games donning the blue and gold.

Close said both Thomas and her teammates share responsibility for improving her post-entry position as teams begin to game plan for her throughout the remainder of the season.

“Every scouting report is going to be centered around her,” Close said. “I really believe in (Thomas), I think she is spectacular … she just needs to play with higher tempo for longer periods of time and we have to do a better job of rewarding her for that.”

Despite outscoring CSUN by 19 in the second half, UCLA sustained four injuries in the final 20 minutes of the contest.

Anstey, Osborne, graduate student guard Natalie Chou and redshirt senior guard Kayla Owens all left the game because of leg injuries. Three of the four Bruins were able to return to the game, but Osborne – who suffered her injury with 3:45 left in the fourth – was carried off the court after being brought to tears on the floor.

Graduate transfer guard Jaelynn Penn – who filled in at point guard following Osborne’s injury – stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, eight rebounds and seven assists during her 28 minutes of game action. The graduate transfer said this was the first time in her career she was asked to take on lead playmaking duties.

“(It’s) a position I’ve never played before – it’s kind of uncomfortable,” Penn said. “The confidence that Coach and my teammates have in me boosts me up and gives me confidence that I know I can play the one and be a leader … especially with (Osborne) going down.”

With or without Osborne, UCLA will finish its three-game homestand with its first matchup against a Power Five opponent Sunday at 3 p.m. against Virginia.

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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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