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UCLA women’s basketball stumped by No. 2 Stanford in biggest home loss of season

UCLA women’s basketball players high five each other following the final buzzer in the team’s 28-point loss to No. 2 Stanford at home Thursday night. The defeat was the Bruins’ largest since falling to the Cardinal by 20 in the 2021 Pac-12 Championship. (Marie Goldfarb/Daily Bruin)

Women’s basketball


No. 2 Stanford76
UCLA48

By Gavin Carlson

Feb. 3, 2022 9:36 p.m.

This post was updated Feb. 3 at 10:13 p.m.

Through the first five minutes of the game, the Bruins led the Cardinal by three points.

That would be their largest lead of the night, as the defending national champions responded by outscoring the blue and gold 70-39 for the remaining 3 1/2 quarters.

UCLA women’s basketball (9-8, 4-5 Pac-12) fell to No. 2 Stanford (17-3, 8-0) by a score of 76-48 on Thursday night in Pauley Pavilion. The blue and gold recorded its worst scoring performance – in terms of both total and efficiency – of the season. The 28-point loss was also the team’s largest since a 20-point loss to the Cardinal in the championship round of last season’s Pac-12 tournament.

“(Our players) let each other down,” said coach Cori Close. “I really respect how they have handled so much that’s coming at them, but tonight we have to take responsibility that we didn’t have each other’s backs, and that’s hard to swallow.”

Both teams jumped out to a 4-of-11 start from the field through six minutes of play, with a single free throw from graduate student guard Natalie Chou separating the teams to give the Bruins a 9-8 lead.

The Cardinal gained their first lead of the game with a 3-pointer from guard Lexie Hull with 3:41 remaining in the opening period and in the midst of a 16-5 run. The senior proceeded to hit two more 3s to record 11 points in the period, while guard Jana Van Gytenbeek added a 3 of her own to give Stanford a 22-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The defending champions continued their 3-point barrage in the second quarter by going 4-of-6 from beyond the arc in the first seven minutes of the period. Lexie Hull hit her fourth long-range shot of the half to add to her game-high 15 first-half points. Meanwhile, her twin sister – guard Lacie Hull – added a 3 of her own in addition to three second-quarter assists.

Meanwhile, the Bruins failed to make a field goal over a 5:45 span before graduate student forward IImar’I Thomas made her first shot attempt of the game – a wing 3-pointer – with 43 seconds left in the half. The blue and gold made three of its 13 field goal attempts and went 1-of-4 from the free throw line to be limited to 10 points for the quarter. 

Close said Thomas – who ranks second on the team in scoring – has to be more aggressive against high-ranked opponents.

“No plays are going to come to you against top teams,” Close said. “(She has) to learn to demand the ball on certain catches. She’s a fifth-year senior and she is perfectly capable.”

Despite holding the lead for the first six minutes of the game, UCLA failed to regain it and went into the halftime break down 40-24.

The Bruins switched to a zone defense in the second half and held the Cardinal to their worst scoring and shooting quarter of the game with 17 points on 40% shooting. The blue and gold also briefly ran a full-court press and held the visiting team scoreless over a span of just under four minutes.

“It’s a little counterintuitive to think about that – you gave up a lot of 3s and now you’re going to go to zone,” Close said. ”When you watch Stanford through the years, they’re such a machine against player-to-player defenses. We didn’t have anything to lose at that point – we needed to disrupt the rhythm in some way.”

On the other end of the floor, UCLA shot just over 23% for the second straight quarter and didn’t score for the final five minutes of the third frame. The team prevented Stanford from making a field goal for over five minutes, but a 3-pointer from Van Gytenbeek to end the streak and a buzzer-beating layup from forward Kiki Iriafen pushed the Cardinal lead to 57-33 heading into the final period.

Stanford responded to its lowest-scoring quarter with a 14-point outburst in the first five minutes of the final period. The Cardinal made five straight field goals and went on a 10-0 run in under two minutes to push their lead to 34 points. 

After a basket from forward Francesca Belibi pushed the run to 12-0 and the score to 73-37 with under five minutes to play, Stanford pulled its starters for the remainder of the contest. Junior guard Charisma Osborne ended a four minute-plus scoring drought with a 3-pointer with 3:20 left in the final frame, but the make was just the fifth in the team’s first 19 attempts from beyond the arc. 

Osborne – who returned to the starting lineup after missing the Bruins’ previous game against Oregon State – said she felt the need to be extra aggressive during the team’s scoring droughts.

“(The goal was) definitely just having an aggressive mindset,” Osborne said. “I always am thinking about that, … but I think for a stretch we weren’t really scoring, so I just tried to do whatever I could to get our team going.”

Trailing by 35 points with less than two minutes to play, Chou made two 3-pointers and scored eight of her 11 total points in a 1:12 span to close the game. Chou said being down double digits for the majority of the game didn’t deter the team from fighting until the end.

“Bruins never quit,” Chou said. “We’re going to show teams that we’re never going to let the score dictate how we play.”

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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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