Up by nine with 6:20 left in the game, it seemed that the UCLA women’s basketball team had it under control.
But then Colorado started crashing the boards, and with each and every rebound, fought its way back into the game.
When the dust settled after the Buffaloes’ display of strength and power, No. 12 Colorado escaped Pauley Pavilion Sunday night with a win, beating UCLA 61-59.
“They make things very difficult for us,” coach Cori Close said. “With their perseverance and resilience to make that run at the end of the game, and they did it with what they do best, which is rebounding.”
When UCLA (7-8, 1-2 Pac-12) was holding onto that nine-point lead, it also controlled the rebounds category 34-32. When it was all said and done, Colorado (11-2, 1-1 Pac-12) won the rebounding battle 42-38.
Throughout the game, six-year senior forward Atonye Nyingifa held her own in the paint against the huge lineup that the Buffaloes put on the floor, finishing with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
“It’s tough, it’s hard but it’s what my team needs from me,” Nyingifa said. “It’s what our team needs from all our players so coach consistently reiterates rebounding, rebounding, rebounding.”
UCLA had much of its success rebounding when it employed a big lineup with redshirt junior forward/center Corinne Costa next to Nyingifa and junior center Luiana Livulo.
But with the bigger lineup, the Bruins had trouble finding an offensive rhythm. Sophomore guard Nirra Fields, who was at the center of UCLA’s rally from being down 10 to going up by nine in a span of 10 minutes in the second half, just couldn’t get open in the second half.
“They did a great job of denying me the ball,” Fields said. “When I did try to get open there were other people hedging out so I didn’t really get a pass.”
Fields finished with 23 points, but they weren’t enough to give UCLA it’s second straight win after it beat Utah 55-38 on Friday night.
“On defense we have to put ourselves in positions where we get stops so our offensive execution gets a little easier,” Close said. “That’s the key, we’ve been successful when we’ve controlled the boards and forced one hard shot.”