This post was updated Feb. 15 at 8:42 p.m.
The Bruins will reunite this weekend in Oregon.
Sophomore forward Lina Sontag and senior forward Angela Dugalić return from international duties along with sophomore center Lauren Betts, who returned to play against Arizona State last week. No. 9 UCLA women’s basketball (19-4, 8-4 Pac-12) will have its full squad this weekend as it takes on No. 11 Oregon State (20-3, 9-3) and Oregon (11-14, 2-10) this weekend on Friday evening and Sunday afternoon, respectively.
“We go up there (Oregon) on Friday night. I think that’s an opportunity,” said coach Cori Close after the Bruins’ victory against Arizona State on Sunday. “Going into conference play, nobody had more top-25 wins than us in the country. Sometimes I think our team needs to remember what they forgot.”
Oregon State is coming off a five-game winning spree, upsetting Colorado and jumping from No. 17 to No. 11 within the past week. The Beavers have won eight of their past nine games, only losing out to Stanford, which the Bruins also fell to last week.
The Beavers are led by 6-foot-4 forward Raegan Beers, whose field goal percentage of 66.54% ranks at second in the country. Beers will match up against 6-foot-7 Betts, who sits in first with 68.36%.
“You’re going to have to be your best. You’re going to have to play your toughest. You’re going to have to overcome obstacles,” Close said. “I just think that’s a really great opportunity to show how much you want to earn that mojo back.”
In the last matchup between the Bruins and the Beavers earlier this season, Beers put up 21 points as both teams navigated a foul-heavy game. But UCLA came out on top, beating Oregon State 65-54. However, the Beavers were able to shut down Betts, who put up 10 points compared to her average 15.0.
Graduate student guard Charisma Osborne, on the other hand, was the team’s leading scorer with a total 15 points and eight rebounds. Following Friday’s matchup, Sunday’s game against Oregon will be Osborne’s 142nd, making her the most featured Bruin in UCLA women’s basketball history.
“Kiki (sophomore guard Kiki Rice) and Charisma will lead us, and that’s why I know – their work ethic is superb,” Close said. “You go as your guards go, especially going into the postseason.”
Oregon is one of the few teams boasting a player taller than Betts, with center Phillipina Kyei standing at 6-foot-8. But despite her height advantage, the Bruins defeated the Ducks by 26 points when the teams last met in early January. Dugalić, who began her collegiate career playing for Oregon, scored a career-high 17 points in their last matchup, sinking 11 of those points in the third quarter alone.
The Bruins have six games remaining in the regular season before competing in the Pac-12 tournament in early March. Rice said the team is focusing on working together and giving full effort.
“We only have six games, which is not that many to get ready for what we’ve been working towards,” Rice said. “(We’re) just focused on taking care of our individual and being out there for one another.”
The Bruins will tip off against Oregon State at Gill Coliseum on Friday at 7 p.m.
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