This post was updated March 7 at 10:58 p.m.
After splitting their first two matchups, the Bruins could not overcome an early deficit against the conference champions.
No. 9 UCLA women’s basketball (16-5, 12-5 Pac-12) did not lead once in a 75-55 loss to No. 4 Stanford (25-2, 20-2). The Cardinal won their 14th game in a row to deny the Bruins their first conference championship since 2006.
Coach Cori Close said her team’s inability to execute early in the game was disappointing.
“We didn’t do anything in the first half that we said we were going to do,” Close said. “We talk about a lot in our program that you either have the pain of discipline or the pain of regret, and unfortunately, there’s a lot of pain of regret right now. That’s as disappointing of an opening effort that we’ve had.”
Coming into the game with a 13-game winning streak while averaging 75.7 points per game during that stretch, Stanford stayed hot offensively to start the game. The Cardinal’s first four baskets were 3-pointers as they started 4-of-6 from 3 in the first opening minutes of the game.
Senior forward Michaela Onyenwere scored all but two of the Bruins’ first-quarter points despite leaving the game less than three minutes into the game because of injury. Onyenwere finished the quarter with nine points but no other Bruin scored while she was on the court – senior forward Lauryn Miller scored the only other points on a layup during Onyenwere’s 88-second absence.
In between tears, Close said the team’s lack of support for Onyenwere ultimately comes down to her as the coach.
“She was double-teamed, triple-teamed and she still found ways to end up with 30 – it’s pretty remarkable,” Close said. “I think she showed out, and we let her down, quite frankly. I take first responsibility of that – I’m the head coach, the buck stops with me, and … we let her down.”
After two Onyenwere free throws cut the Stanford lead to seven with 2:20 left in the first period, UCLA went scoreless to end the quarter. The Cardinal ended the quarter on a 6-0 run to put the Bruins down 24-11.
In the previous game, UCLA responded to an eight-point first quarter with 17 points in the second – the team couldn’t duplicate a similar response this time around.
The Bruins followed their 11-point first quarter with just nine in the second while relying on Onyenwere to make all but one of the team’s field goals for the second straight quarter.
Other than Onyenwere’s 13 points and Miller’s two, sophomore guard Charisma Osborne was the only other UCLA player to score in the first half and was limited to just one 3-point make and two free throws. After shooting 1-of-12 in the Bruins’ semifinal win over the Wildcats, Osborne finished the half with five points on 1-of-8 shooting.
Despite UCLA coming into the game with two of the conference’s four leading scorers, it was two Stanford guards who outscored the Bruins’ entire team in the first half.
The Cardinal backcourt duo of guard Lexie Hull and guard Kiana Williams combined for 28 points and went a combined 6-of-8 from 3 in the first half. The pair finished the half on an 8-0 run by themselves as Stanford finished with a 43-20 lead over UCLA.
Onyenwere said the Bruins did not play their best but will use competition against a top team as motivation going forward.
“We’ve talked about how (Stanford is) probably a Final Four team, but that’s something that we also believe of ourselves,” Onyenwere said. “We did not come out the way we wanted to come out, but we have so much more left in us. We’re really, really grateful to be able to compete against some of the people like Stanford. … (They) just push us to move forward in the NCAA tournament.”
After scoring 20 points in the first half, the Bruins used a 20-point third quarter to get back into the game. A free throw from freshman forward Emily Bessoir – the only bench point on the day for UCLA – with 9:02 left in the fourth quarter cut the Cardinal lead to 10.
From that point on, Stanford outscored UCLA 21-11 the remainder of the quarter to defeat the Bruins in the tournament for the second straight season.
Following a better scoring second half, Close said she hopes the team can use the contrasting halves as a lesson going into the NCAA tournament.
“This team has so many weapons and that’s what’s so frustrating to me,” Close said. “(The second half) teaches us what we can become, but time’s running out and bottom line is we got to choose quick. Hopefully, the pain of this is the most powerful teacher.”
While the team fell short of a milestone, Onyenwere achieved a personal milestone by moving to sixth all-time on UCLA’s scoring list. She finished with a game-high 30 points in the Bruins’ final contest before March Madness.
With the Bruins just one loss away from the end of their season, the senior said she’s thankful for what the team has given her.
“This has probably been the best four years of my life,” Onyenwere said. “I’m super grateful to be able to be at a place like UCLA where I’ve been pushed to be the best player that I can be, but also the best person as well. I’m definitely going to miss it when the time comes.”
