UCLA
14-4, 5-2
California
13-5, 4-3
No. 13 UCLA Holds Off No. 21 California, 60-52
January 19, 2018 | Women's Basketball
The Bruins earned their first regular season sweep over California since 2011.
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LOS ANGELES (AP) – Jordin Canada scored 11 of her 13 points in the fourth quarter, Monique Billings had 14 points and 18 rebounds, and No. 13 UCLA held of No. 21 California 60-52 on Friday night at Pauley Pavlion.
Canada scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to blunt a comeback by Cal, which played without their leading scorer and the Pac-12's top rebounder, Kristine Anigwe, for nearly six minutes spanning the third and fourth quarters after she picked up her fourth foul.
Cal (13-5, 4-3) put together an 8-0 run with four points from Kianna Smith to get within four, 51-47, with two minutes left, but Kennedy Burke had a tip-in and Canada made a lunging 3-pointer as she was falling that banked in for a 56-47 lead with 37 seconds left. UCLA (14-4, 5-2) added four free throws before Anigwe got Cal's last bucket with 13 seconds left.Anigwe scored Cal's first 10 points of the third quarter, rallying the Bears from a 29-17 halftime deficit to within six. UCLA's Chantel Horvat scored four points to rebuild the lead to 10 before Cal finished the period without Anigwe with a 6-0 spurt capped by Jaelyn Brown's 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it 37-33.
The Bruins outscored Cal 15-3 over a 5 1/2-minute stretch of the first quarter in taking a 20-13 lead. The teams combined for only 13 points in the second quarter with UCLA going up 29-17 at halftime behind 12 points from Billings and nine from Burke.
Billings also had three blocks before fouling out in the final minute while posting her ninth double-double of the season and 38th of her career. The 18 rebounds were the third-most of her career (25 last year in a win over Washington State and 22 in a loss at South Carolina). Burke had 13 points and Lajahna Drummer tied her career-high with 12 for the Bruins, with both grabbing seven rebounds.
Anigwe, who has 36 career double-doubles, was denied one this night, finishing with 14 points and five rebounds in 27 minutes. Asha Thomas also scored 14 points while Penina Davidson had eight boards.
Cal lost at home to UCLA on Dec. 31 by 36 points, scoring a season-low 46, when the Bears shot just 29 percent and committed 24 turnovers. They were 7 percent better Friday night and made only 13 miscues but the Bruins had a 44-33 rebounding edge.
The Bruins also shot 36 percent but made half of their attempts in the first and fourth quarters when they scored 43 points.
UCLA hosts Pac-12 leader Stanford (6-1) on Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018 at 3:00 p.m. PT on the Pac-12 Network.
