LOS ANGELES — The eighth-ranked UCLA women’s basketball team showed its potential to play as one on the night that it shared the spotlight with five players on senior night.
Despite a lackluster second half, the Bruins’ team effort resulted in a 53-45 victory over No. 13 Colorado on Monday night at Pauley Pavilion and moved into a three-way tie for second place in the Pac-12 with two games remaining.
Kiki Rice had 20 points to go with nine rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots as UCLA (22-5 overall, 11-5 in Pac-12 play) dealt Colorado (20-7, 10-6) its fourth loss in a row. Charisma Osborne scored 14 points and Lauren Betts grabbed nine rebounds.
Newly returned to the top 10 in the AP rankings, the Bruins blew a 12-point, first-half lead before recovering in the third quarter behind their two guards.
Scoreless in the first half, Quay Miller ignited a 13-2 run for the Buffaloes to open the third, capped by Tameiya Sadler’s steal and basket for a 32-31 lead, their first of the game. The Bruins committed seven turnovers in seven minutes (on their way to 24 for the night).
Londynn Jones came in and scored five in a row, Rice made two free throws and Osborne scored to send UCLA into the fourth leading 40-35.
Betts, whose field-goal percentage leads Division I, was scoreless until the fourth, when her basket extended UCLA’s lead to 44-35. Her two points tied a season low. She averages a team-leading 15.5 points per game.
The Buffs closed to 46-43 on five straight points by Aaronette Vonleh.
Both teams then went cold, combining to go 0 for 20 during a nearly 10-minute stretch that finally ended with Osborne’s 3-pointer with 1:25 left, keeping UCLA ahead 49-43.
Rice stole the ball and scored with 17 seconds remaining to seal the win.
UCLA’s Angela Dugalić, Izzy Anstey, Emily Bessoir, Cam Brown and Osborne were each recognized on senior night.
The Bruins outscored the Buffs 17-7 in the first quarter with Colorado missing 11 of 13 shots from…
Read the full article here
