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After a horrible loss to Oklahoma State last week, UCLA needs to pick up the pieces against Seton Hall as their road trip continues.
If I were to use anything to describe my feelings towards UCLA’s loss to Oklahoma State, I would use the emoji where the person puts their hand in front of their face showing obvious disappointment. There’s no other way to put it, that game was a disappointment.
Oklahoma State blew by UCLA from the very first whistle. The Cowgirls held the Bruins 20-6 in the first quarter only shooting 18.8% while allowing six turnovers. Kaylee Johnson was a big part of keeping the Bruins at bay. Jensen was a big physical force keeping away the duo of Billings and Canada from the field. Billings didn’t know how to get around Jensen and Canada resorted to mid-range jumpers in desperation. And, that was just the first quarter.
It didn’t get better in the second. Jensen continued to create trouble for UCLA grabbing offensive rebounds the Bruins couldn’t stop. Jensen would have been even more trouble if not for going into foul trouble. Even without her on the court, the Bruins still had trouble getting back into the game. Jensen is one of Oklahoma’s State best player and without her, the Cowgirl’s still maintained the lead. UCLA couldn’t handle the Cowgirls even without their best player.
UCLA came within three points in the third, but that’s the closest they would ever get. Oklahoma State went on a 7-0 run to extend their lead. All of this while Jensen sat on the bench due to foul trouble once again. The fourth didn’t get any better for the Bruins. Billings found herself on the bench due to foul trouble. The only silver lining was freshman Michaela Onyenwere who continues to impress. Canada also had an impressive night by recording a game-high 28 points, but it was overshadowed by the terrible loss.
Now, UCLA heads over to New Jersey to take on Seton Hall after a nine-day break. The two schools have only met twice before, both in the ‘90’s. After the horrible game the Bruins had, today can honestly go either way. They can redeem themselves or they can suffer another loss to an unranked opponent. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised by either result. At the end of the day, the Bruins can’t do worse than shooting 16% in one quarter.
Whatever the result may be, maybe it is time we stop putting the blame solely on the players and start looking at the coaching staff. This UCLA team has too many great players to come undone by unranked opponents.
This is your UCLA Women’s Basketball vs. Seton Hall open thread!
Go Bruins!