UCLA Women’s Hoops Hunts Down The Ducks, 74-69; Looks to Dam Oregon State

This afternoon, the UCLA women’s basketball team will look to complete a sweep on their Oregon road trip when the Bruins head to Corvallis to take on the Oregon State Beavers at 1 pm PT.

Last Time Out

If you thought last night’s comeback win by the UCLA men’s basketball team was pretty amazing, you obviously missed the UCLA women’s basketball game against the Oregon Ducks on Friday night.

That’s because the ladies of Westwood came back from 22 points down to beat the Ducks, 74-69.

It didn’t start that badly for the Bruins. Kennedy Burke made the first bucket of the game from behind the arc and UCLA had a 3-0 lead. Two minutes later, the Bruins still led by three, 5-2. But over the final eight minutes of the quarter, the Ducks took over and held UCLA to just seven more points in the rest of the quarter. Meanwhile, Oregon went on runs of 13-2 and 8-2 to close out the period with a 23-12 lead.

The second quarter looked pretty similar to the first with the Ducks dominating the Bruins. With seven minutes left in the half, Oregon held a 30-18 lead. Over the next three minutes, the Ducks went on a 10-0 run to push their lead to 22 points. With 2:32 left in the half, UCLA started the comeback. They finished the half with a 7-2 run which cut Oregon’s lead back to 15 points at the break, 42-27.

After the break, the Bruins didn’t really go on a big run in the third. Instead, they chipped away, little by little, at the Ducks’ lead. Soon, Oregon’s lead had been cut from 15 at the half back down to just 10 points with 2:47 left in the third. UCLA’s biggest “run” in the third was more of a mini-run than a true run. Over the rest of the quarter, the Bruins went on a 5-0 mini-run and the Ducks’ lead was a manageable five points after three, 53-48.

It took UCLA almost another three minutes to take their first lead since the 8:00 mark of the first quarter. In the middle of an 18-4 run by the Bruins, Michaela Onyenwere hit a pair of free throws which put UCLA ahead. It was a lead the Bruins wouldn’t give up and UCLA was up, 68-60, with 3:46 left.

The Ducks tried to come back themselves and they almost did. A 9-2 Oregon run cut UCLA’s lead to just a point with 35 seconds left, but, in the final thirty seconds, both Onyenwere and Burke each made a pair of free throws that clinched the win for the Bruins, 74-69.

Burke finished with a career-high 29 points while Japreece Dean added 14 and Onyenwere had 12. Lajahna Drummer just missed a double-double with eight points and 11 rebounds.

Oregon State Beavers

Having to face the Ducks and the Beavers back to back is a heck of a task. When UCLA hosted both schools last month, the Bruins lost both games in the middle of a four-game slide. Given that the Beavers are ranked #12 in the country, today’s game won’t be easy by any stretch of the imagination.

But, if the Bruins could pull off Friday night’s comeback, then a win today is also possible.

This is your UCLA vs. Oregon State women’s basketball open thread.


Go Bruins!!!