Women’s basketball prepares to host matchup against Arizona after postponement

Twenty-four days later than planned, the Bruins will take on the Wildcats at home.

UCLA women’s basketball (9-4, 4-1 Pac-12) is set to host No. 8 Arizona (14-2, 4-2) at Pauley Pavilion on Wednesday, the rescheduled date for the teams’ originally scheduled Jan. 2 matchup that was postponed because of COVID-19 protocols within the UCLA program.

The Bruins haven’t hosted the Wildcats since January 2020, as last season’s home contest was postponed and never rescheduled. In the two teams’ most recent matchup Dec. 4, 2020, then-No. 9 UCLA lost to then-No. 7 Arizona in Tucson by a score of 65-68. The blue and gold relinquished a halftime lead by shooting 1-of-18 from the field in the third quarter and then fell short on a game-tying 3-point attempt on the final possession.

Wednesday’s contest is the Bruins’ first this season against a ranked conference team. The Wildcats notched 12 straight wins against their nonconference opponents this season but picked up their first losses of the season to Pac-12 foes USC and No. 19 Oregon within the last two weeks. The Bruins, on the other hand, are coming off four straight conference wins after almost dipping below .500 for the first time since 2018.

Coach Cori Close said the team’s loss to Colorado on Jan. 9 in its first conference game of the year marked a potential turning point in the season and gave them an opportunity to improve on shortcomings.

“At Colorado, they were the tougher team, and we were honest about that and had some hard conversations after,” Close said. “One of the other reasons I think we’ve grown into a tough team is a lot of people have tried to give us an out. … We had plenty of opportunities to win that game, and I thought our response is what led to this.”

Close also said she appreciated her team’s consistency as of late and said while every game looks different, the key to beating Arizona is whether UCLA can display an all-around effort on both ends of the floor.

“When we win, we handle Arizona’s pressure, and we get really good shots together,” Close said. “We execute, we screen well, we move the basketball, we take care of the basketball.”

Regarding the roster available to Close on Wednesday, the playing status of graduate student guard Jaelynn Penn has been a game-time decision in the last two contests – meaning junior guard Charisma Osborne has assumed a larger playmaking role along with graduate student forward IImar’I Thomas.

In UCLA’s last contest Sunday at USC, Osborne went down with a knee injury and exited the court shortly before returning to the action. After the game – in which she posted a season-high 27 points – she said she focused on persevering through her injury and being there for her team.

“Whenever I fall down, I’m always going to get right back up,” Osborne said. “My team needed me right in that moment.”

Wednesday’s contest will also be the first home conference game with fans in attendance for the Bruins this season. The team played its first matchup in front of fans since Jan. 9 at the Galen Center on Sunday, and redshirt freshman forward Izzy Anstey said having crowds back reenergizes the team.

“We had so many Bruins come out and support us,” Anstey said. “I think we had to look in ourselves to bring our energy, but they brought it for us as well.”

The Bruins will tip off against the Wildcats at 5 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion.