No.8 women’s UCLA basketball was coming off a tough loss to No. 3 Oregon Ducks just 48 hours before taking the floor again in Westwood.
The Bruins bounced back in an emphatic way after overcoming a 14-point third quarter deficit to rally and beat No. 15 Oregon State 83-74 in overtime on Monday night at Pauley Pavilion.
UCLA freshman guard Charisma Osborne scored seven of her career-high 22 points in overtime, helping the Bruins cruise to victory after outscoring the Beavers 16-7 in the final period.
“I shot really poorly last game, but my teammates and my coaches are always telling me to keep shooting,” Osborne said. “It just felt nice for it to finally go in.”
“I’m exhausted and I didn’t even play,” UCLA coach Cori Close said. “I thought the game came down to defensive rebounding, we were really limiting them to one shot and that allowed us to get some easy ones in transition and have some players step up make some big plays.”
Senior guard Japreece Dean had 22 points and 12 assists, junior forward Michaela Onyenwere added 16 and 11 rebounds for the Bruins (22-3, 11-3 Pac-12).
(Photo by Jerry Kelly/T.G.Sportstv1/)
The Beavers (19-7, 7-7) held a 31-26 halftime advantage and used a 14-6 run in the third to take a 14-point lead. However, the Bruins closed out their 27-point quarter with a 22-11 run capped off by a three-pointer by Dean, tying the game at 53-all with 44 seconds remaining.
“Transition 3s really ignite you,” Dean said. “The energy was great in the arena, and everyone was just super into it and bringing energy helps out a lot.”
Oregon State shot 50 percent from the field, compared to 39 percent for UCLA. It was the 24 turnovers that hurt the Beavers the most, as the Bruins recorded 15 steals on the night.
In the fourth, both teams battled which ultimately resulted in five ties, but in overtime, it was the Bruins that used a 16-7 run to put the game out of reach for an 83-74 victory.
“They couldn’t find the mismatches inside, and we forced them to really simplify their offense,” Close said. “They’re a very complex offensive team, and we took that completely out of the mix by our defensive pressure.”
