UCLA women’s basketball got out to an early lead Sunday afternoon and, despite a late push by Stanford, the Bruins held on tight for the win.
The No. 13 Bruins (15-4, 6-2 Pac-12) pulled out a 64-53 victory over the Cardinal (12-8, 6-2), avenging their loss against Stanford on Dec. 29. The win by UCLA shot them up to second place in the Pac-12, behind only the 7-1 Oregon Ducks, who bested the Bruins two weeks ago.
Coach Cori Close’s Bruins registered back-to-back scoring outputs in the low 60s, well below the 76.5 points per game they had averaged coming into the weekend. Despite the lackluster offensive performance, Close was pleased by her team’s performance.
“This team never ceases to amaze me,” Close said. “I’m just really proud of how this team persevered.”
The Bruins’ stellar defensive stretch continued, as they have allowed just 53.3 points per game over their last three outings. One of the more impressive stats behind UCLA’s defensive performance is that, heading into the game, Stanford was 12-0 in games in which they held their opponents to under 70 points.
“We didn’t have very good ball reversal, and what happens is you get lower percentage shots,” Close said. “That’s when we rely on the anchor of our defense, and we did just that.”
UCLA survived an injury scare early in the first quarter, when senior point guard Jordin Canada left with a face injury after a scramble for a loose ball. Canada went straight to the locker room, where she grabbed her face mask out of her locker and returned to the game in the second quarter. Canada tallied a season-high six turnovers, but she wasn’t looking to make any excuses.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Canada said, when asked about the injury. “I think I need to be a little more patient, but I don’t blame that on the mask.”
Canada finished the game with a team-leading 21 points, most of which came from the free throw line. She was 11-of-14 from the charity stripe, helping ice the game after Stanford cut the UCLA lead to 6 points in the fourth quarter.
The second-leading scorer, senior forward Monique Billings, had 18 points and eight rebounds, but her biggest play came early in the fourth quarter. Billings hit a turnaround layup to bring her scoring total to 11, bringing her career total to 1,500 points.
After pulling down her 1,000th career rebound in the first quarter as well, Billings became the third Bruin and 14th Pac-12 player to reach 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds.
“I just look back at all the games I’ve played since my freshman year and it just really feels good to play,” Billings said, when asked about her career at UCLA. “If I can get to 2,000 (points), then I get to 2,000.”
After Billings said that in the postgame press conference, Close turned to her, smiling, and asked her a question.
“What’s your word for the year?” Close asked.
“Legacy.” Billings responded.
The Bruins travel to Seattle to take on the Washington Huskies on Friday night at 7 p.m.