Friday, March 29

UCLA women’s basketball hopes to extend winning streak in the mountains


Junior forward Michaela Onyenwere will return to her home state of Colorado with No. 8 UCLA women's basketball this weekend. On this road trip last season, she averaged 23.5 points and nine rebounds against the two teams. (Joy Hong/Daily Bruin senior staff)


Women's Basketball


Utah
Friday, 6 p.m.

Salt Lake City
Pac-12 Networks
Colorado
Sunday, 11 a.m.

Boulder
Pac-12 Networks

The Bruins’ record-setting start will be challenged in the mountains.

In the team’s first conference road trip of the season, No. 8 UCLA women’s basketball (14-0, 3-0 Pac-12) will travel first to Salt Lake City to face Utah (7-7, 0-3) on Friday and then to Boulder to face Colorado (12-2, 1-2) on Sunday. The Bruins will have an opportunity to extend winning streaks against both teams, as they have won 14 straight against the Utes and eight straight against the Buffaloes.

Coach Cori Close said she is preparing her team differently than she would for other road trips.

“I tried to make practice harder – both emotionally and physically – than anything we’re going to face up there,” Close said. “You’re not going to get a call, it’s going to be hard, there’s going to be altitude. I want this to draw out a new level of toughness.”

Salt Lake City sits at 4,278 feet above sea level and Boulder at 5,328 feet above sea level, several thousand feet higher than Los Angeles, which sits at 285 feet above sea level.

A season ago, junior forward Michaela Onyenwere averaged a team-high 23.5 points and nine rebounds in two games on this same road trip. Onyenwere – who will make a homecoming in Colorado – said preparation is key when playing in altitude.

“Once we’re there we’ll do our best to get used to it, but it is a place where you struggle a little bit and that’s why we prepare the way we do here,” Onyenwere said.

The last time UCLA traveled to Utah, the Bruins defeated the Utes 100-90 on Feb. 10, 2019. Not only was it the most points scored by UCLA all season, but it also was the second-most points it gave up all season.

This season, Utah is 10th in the Pac-12 in scoring during conference play, at 56.3 points per game. The Utes are, however, second in 3-pointers made during the same time period, at 23 – a number topped only by the Bruins’ 29.

“Utah has always been a great team in the Pac-12 and so we know it’s going to be a struggle,” Onyenwere said. “As long as we do what we need to and stay with our fundamentals then we’ll do a good job.”

After winning its first 12 games of the season, Colorado lost its last two against No. 2 Oregon and No. 3 Oregon State by a combined 70 points.

In their season-opening winning streak of 12 games, the Buffaloes out-rebounded their opponents in each game by an average of 12.25 rebounds in those games. In its losses, Colorado has been out-rebounded in both by a total of nine rebounds.

Junior guard Chantel Horvat, who put up her first career double-double in UCLA’s victory over then-No. 18 Arizona on Sunday, said rebounding would be important this weekend.

“(Colorado is) a great rebounding team, so we just need to make sure we’re boxing out and hustling after the ball,” Horvat said. “Last weekend really taught us how important rebounding is and how it can really determine games, so we just need to make sure that we’re on top of that”

UCLA will take on Utah at 6 p.m. Friday and will face Colorado at 11 a.m. Sunday.

Sports senior staff

Christon is currently a Sports senior staff writer. He was previously the Sports editor on the men's basketball and football beats and the assistant Sports editor on the women's basketball, softball, men's tennis and women's tennis beats. Christon was previously a contributor on the women's basketball and softball beats.


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