PALO ALTO, Calif.—The Bruins have won seven straight games when holding a halftime lead. But they couldn’t hold on this time. “I told the team in the locker room that, on one hand, I’m so proud of the confidence that they’ve earned in these first three road games,” said coach Cori Close. Read more...

Photo: Redshirt freshman guard Lindsey Corsaro registered 14 points, four rebounds and two assists in UCLA women’s basketball’s loss to Stanford on Sunday afternoon at Maples Pavilion. (Isabelle Roy/Daily Bruin)

This post was updated Jan. 5 at 3:17 p.m. BERKELEY — The Bruins are the top offensive rebounding team in the Pac-12 – and it got them the win. Read more...

Photo: Sophomore forward Michaela Onyenwere delivered a game-tying layup with 17 seconds left to force overtime for UCLA women’s basketball. Onyenwere shot 12-of-22 from the field and finished with 29 points and eight rebounds in the Bruins overtime victory over Cal. (Emily Ng/Daily Bruin)

Cori Close said the third quarter was the turning point for the Bruins. “We played with much more toughness,” the coach said. “If you want a different outcome, then you need to choose a different response. Read more...

Photo: Sophomore forward Michaela Onyenwere logged 14 of UCLA women’s basketball’s 28 first-half points and finished with 27 points and 12 rebounds in the Bruins’ win over USC. (Daniel Leibowitz/Daily Bruin staff)

Despite leading the Bruins in scoring, Japreece Dean spent the majority of the final quarter cheering on her teammates from the bench. “It was super fun watching people fly around, get scoops, get deflections and the bench energy was great,” the senior guard said. Read more...

Photo: Sophomore guard Chantel Horvat registered three steals in her first four minutes off the bench. Chantel logged a season-high nine points to go along with two rebounds in UCLA women’s basketball’s blowout over Cal Poly. (Ariana Saigh/Daily Bruin)

Michaela Onyenwere said the Bruins wanted to win for a special reason. “We knew that we were coming back to (redshirt senior guard Chrissy Baird’s) hometown,” the sophomore forward said. Read more...

Photo: Redshirt senior guard Chrissy Baird (left) – an Illinois native – saw seven minutes of action in a return to her hometown Wednesday night. Baird logged two rebounds in UCLA women’s basketball’s road victory over Illinois-Chicago. (Kristie-Valerie Hoang/Daily Bruin senior staff)

Cori Close said the team’s mentality throughout the past week revolved around two words. “Fun and focus,” the coach said. “(I told them,) ‘Let’s work on having more fun together, working on plays with each other.’ … I really thought they lived that.” UCLA women’s basketball (5-5) shot a season-high 52.5 percent against Oklahoma State (7-2) en route to a 71-59 win Sunday to put itself back at .500. Read more...

Photo: Redshirt senior forward Lajahna Drummer registered her first double-double of the season, logging 12 points and 10 rebounds in UCLA women’s basketball’s home victory over Oklahoma State. (Emily Ng/Daily Bruin)