After Upsetting UC Berkeley, UCLA Women’s Basketball Visits #6 Stanford

This afternoon, the UCLA women’s basketball team finishes this weekend’s road trip to the Bay Area by visiting the #6 Stanford Cardinal.

Last Time Out

On Friday night, the Bruins upset the #18/19 UC Berkeley Golden Bears at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley in overtime. The first quarter was a close back-and-forth battle with a four-point Bruin lead being the biggest lead by either team in the quarter. UCLA had a one-point edge after the first ten minutes of play.

The second quarter was dominated by the Bruins. Actually, the first three and a half minutes resembled the first quarter, but the Bruins took over following a Japreece Dean jumper with 6:09 left in the half. From the point forward, UCLA did not allow the Bears to tie the game or retake the lead. The Bruins went into the locker room with a 10-point lead, 42-32. That was their biggest lead of the game to that point.

UCLA continued to hold the lead in the third quarter and even increased it to 12 points with 7:37 to go. While the Bruins continued to lead, UC Berkeley started to chip away at that lead. Finally, with 48 seconds left in the third quarter, the Bears tied the game 53-53 on a three-pointer by Asha Thomas. Thomas also hit a jumper with four seconds to go to put the Bears up by a bucket after three quarters of play.

The fourth quarter was another battle with UC Berkeley taking a four-point lead with 8:11 left and then the Bruins doing the same with 5:07 to go. A layup by Kristine Anigwe with 2:25 left put the Bears up by a point and a pair of free throws by Thomas increased it to a three-point lead. UC Berkeley still lead by three with 42 seconds left, but Lajahna Drummer made the first of two free throws to cut the lead to two and Michaela Onyenwere tied the game with 17 seconds left. That’s how regulation ended in a 71-71 tie.

In overtime, freshman Lindsay Corsaro put the Bruins ahead when she made a free throw after missing one. From that point, UCLA never trailed and, after overtime, the Bruins had picked up the upset win, 84-79.

Onyenwere led the Bruins with 29 points on the night while Kennedy Burke scored 19 and Drummer added 14.

#6 Stanford Cardinal

So far this season, the Cardinal are playing well. They are 11-1 coming into today’s game with the only loss coming to Gonzaga on the road on December 2nd. Stanford has beaten some really good teams so far this year including Baylor and Tennessee. They bring a five-game winning streak into this afternoon’s game.

Stanford has four players averaging in double figures. Alanna Smith leads the team with 18.9 ppg. Kiana Williams is averaging 13.8 ppg while DiJonai Carrington is averaging 11.3 ppg. The fourth team member is freshman Lexie Hull, who hasn’t played since November 15th, is averaging 10.7 ppg.

Outlook

Today’s game is going to be a tough one for the Bruins. To be sure, this team has shown a lot of grit and they have bounced back since the four-game losing streak they experienced earlier in the season, but I just don’t think they have the personnel to beat the #6 team in the county. Stanford wins, 76-68.


Go Bruins.