UCLA Women’s Basketball: Defense Leads the Bruins to a 82-46 Win Against UC Berkeley

UCLA made UC Berkeley look easy to beat in their own arena. Their 82-46 defeat of the Golden Bears was so easy that you may not have known that the Bears had won the previous six meetings in Berkeley. As Monique Billings said in her postgame interview, “I had to go out with a bang.” And, yes, did Billings and the Bruins go out with a bang.

Today, UCLA’s offense blew past the the Berkeley defense while the Bruin defense shut down the Bears’ offense.

The teams combined for 34 points in the first quarter, but it slowed down a bit in the first half of the second. Defense and missed shots kept either team from making a big break way in the first six minutes. That was until freshman Michaela Onyenwere completed a three-point play and that was when the Bruins took off. The freshman continues to impress. The Bruins finished the half with a 13-1 run to lead by 15 points.

It got even worse for UC Berkeley in the third quarter as UCLA extended their lead to 20 points.

One of the most impressive moments defensively came in the final three minutes of the game. Jordin Canada easily swipes past the Berkeley defense for a two-point play and freshman Chantel Horvat stole the inbound pass to score again. This play demonstrates how the Bruins played all game. They were aggressive and attacking the boards. It was a big difference from Friday’s loss to Stanford.

After a five-game road trip, UCLA finally heads home to Westwood 1-1 in the Pac-12 to host Oregon State on Friday.


Go Bruins!