UCLA held its opponent under 50 points for the fourth time this season.
No. 7 UCLA women’s basketball (7-1) defeated UCSB (1-7) – who put up 10, eight and nine points in the first three quarters – by a score of 74-44.
“The game plan was to defend the 3-point line and defend in transition,” said senior guard Jordin Canada. “It was just us being aggressive, us punching first and taking initiative to get them out of rhythm and I think we did that throughout the whole game.”
The Bruins were able to take 30 of their 74 points off turnovers, and this defensive pressure was shown early in the game when junior guard Kennedy Burke dove for a loose ball and was able to pass it to Canada, running toward the basket for a layup.
Despite its defensive dominance, UCLA’s offensive struggles continued through the first half when it shot 39.4 percent and made only 1-of-7 from the 3-point line.
Coach Cori Close said the offensive struggles could’ve been due to UCLA’s deeper roster.
“I wanted to get enough minutes for the young players as they get more and more comfortable,” Close said. “But at the same time – I will be honest with you – it’s been a struggle because I think sometimes my effort to make sure that they get experience has played us out of rhythm.”
Freshman guard Chantel Horvat and freshman forward Michaela Onyenwere each played about 20 minutes, while freshman forward Lauryn Miller saw 13 minutes. Freshman guard Kayla Owens also saw the floor for six minutes before exiting with a knee injury.
However, their struggles changed at the start of the third quarter when the Bruins went 12-for-18, which included a 14-1 run where they stopped the Gauchos from making a single field goal.
“Our older players were in and I left them in for a longer period of time and I think that was huge,” Close said. “We were just a little bit more composed, and we got more teamwork buckets. We obviously got some steal-score situations, but I thought we scored in rhythm a lot more.”
Senior forward Monique Billings had another double-double, and 10 of her 17 points and four of her 10 rebounds came in the third quarter. Billings said that the focus for these next five games playing on the road will be the team’s consistency.
“Playing to what our standard is, which shouldn’t be playing up to our competition or playing down to our competition, it should just be a consistent, just playing to our standard,” Billings said. “I think that’s going to be important going on the road.”
UCLA begins its five-game road trip against Oklahoma State on Friday afternoon, with tipoff at 5 p.m. PST at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
Injury Update
Owens went down with an injury at the beginning of the third quarter after hitting her right knee on a Santa Barbara player. She was helped off by two staff members and returned to the bench with crutches and an ice pack taped onto her injured knee. Owens, one of four true freshmen on UCLA, had been averaging 9.6 minutes per game with 3.9 points, 0.9 rebounds, and 1.5 assists.