UCLA Women’s Basketball Hosts UC Berkeley After Win Streak Was Snapped

So much for UCLA’s six-game winning streak. That was snapped by Stanford at Pauley Pavilion Friday night when the Cardinal crushed the Bruins, 65-51. This afternoon, the UCLA women’s basketball team will look to get back on track when they face the UC Berkeley Golden Bears at 4 pm PT.

Last Time Out

Friday night’s game started out alright for the Bruins. UCLA held the Cardinal to just eight points in the first ten minutes while scoring 13 themselves including the first eight points of the game. But just before the midway point in the quarter, the Bruin collapse started. Over the final 15:31 of the first half, Stanford outscored UCLA by 35-11.

The Cardinal started the second quarter with an 11-0 run. On the other hand, the Bruins didn’t score until there was 6:03 left and their final bucket of the quarter went in 59 seconds later. Yes, Stanford held the Bruins scoreless for a smidge more than nine minutes of the ten-minute period. At the break, UCLA trailed the Cardinal, 35-19.

The good news in the second half was the UCLA actually outscored Stanford. The bad news is that UCLA only managed to cut Stanford’s 16-point halftime lead by two points over the course of the half. It wasn’t all bad though.

The third quarter actually saw the Bruins stage a nice comeback. In fact, with 1:15 to go in the third, a pair of Kennedy Burke free throws cut Stanford’s lead to just two points, 42-40. A pair of free throws in the final ten seconds of the quarter stretched it to a 44-40 lead after three.

UCLA cut it to two again with a bucket by Michaela Onyenwere to start the fourth quarter, but a 10-0 Stanford run quickly gave the Cardinal another double-digit lead. Another comeback was not in the cards for the Bruins as UCLA could not get any closer than seven points down in the rest of the game.

Onyenwere and Burke led the team with 21 and 12 points, respectively. Meanwhile, Lajahna Drummer snagged 12 rebounds.

UC Berkeley Golden Bears

The Golden Bears come into today’s game with a four-game losing streak. Since the Bears and Bruins met to start of the conference schedule, UC Berkeley has gone 5-7. The road has not been kind to the Bears. They are just 1-5 in Pac-12 play away from Hass Pavilion.

Outlook

That all combined makes a Bruin victory seem likely today. When you factor in things like the Bruins’ victory over UC Berkeley at Haas Pavilion and the Bruins usually being tough to beat at home, it makes me think that this should almost be a guaranteed win for UCLA.

If UCLA can’t bounce back from Friday’s loss with a win over the Golden Bears, it could be a sign of bigger issues with the women’s basketball program.

This is your UCLA vs. UC Berkeley women’s basketball open thread.


Go Bruins!!