LOS ANGELES – California (14-5, 6-2) used a decisive 15-0 run after the first media timeout in the second half to hand UCLA (8-11, 4-4) its seventh home loss of the year, defeating the Bruins 72-57 on Sunday afternoon in Pauley Pavilion.
Like it did Friday night, UCLA scored the game's first eight points while California missed its first eight shots. The Bruins led for the first 18:34 of the first half but Cal used a 13-4 run to end the half with a 29-28 advantage. UCLA had its biggest lead of 19-7 at the 10:31 mark on a pair of free throws by Jordin Canada. Both teams struggled from the floor in the opening 20 minutes. UCLA shot 32.3 percent (10-for-31) while the Golden Bears shot 36.0 percent (9-for-25).
Nirra Fields led the Bruins with 11 points in the first half while Brittany Boyd had 12 for Cal. UCLA was outrebounded, 22-20, but the Bears also had the lead in turnovers with 12, compared to eight for the Bruins.
The Golden Bears took control of the game in the second half, using a 15-0 run over a span of four minutes to put the game out of reach. The Bruins had five turnovers and missed all four shots during the decisive run. At one stretch, the Golden Bears made 9-of-10 shots while UCLA went over seven minutes without a field goal. The Bruins would never get closer than 13 points in the last 10 minutes.
Courtney Range had eight of her 11 points in the run, making her only two three-pointers in the game during the spurt. Boyd finished with a dubious double-double of 24 points and 10 turnovers, but the senior point guard also had five rebounds and game-highs in assists (eight) and steals (five). Mercedes Jefflo was the only other Golden Bear to reach double figures with 10 points.
Fields led the Bruins with 19 points but had six turnovers while Canada was the only other UCLA player to score in double digits with 11 points. She struggled from the field (3-for-11) and had six turnovers as well.
TIP-INS
California: Senior point guard Brittany Boyd made a lot of plays, some good, some bad. She made all three of her shots from beyond the arc and six of her first seven shots of the game, registering five rebounds, eight assists and five steals, but had a game-high 10 turnovers.
UCLA: Freshman Recee' Caldwell was honored at pregame with a commemorative plaque from USA Basketball of her gold-medal winning U18 USA National Team this past August that went 5-0 at the FIBA Americas in Colorado Springs, Colo.
REVERSAL OF FORTUNE
Cal blitzed UCLA for 45 points on 57.7 percent shooting from the field (15-for-26) in the second half after shooting 36.0 percent and scoring 29 points in the first half. It was the second straight game that UCLA allowed an opponent to shoot 50 percent or better in the second half after holding them to 30 percent in the first.
POINTS OFF TURNOVERS
While the turnovers were close (UCLA had 19 compared to Cal's 18), the points off turnovers were not. Cal burned the Bruins with almost half of their points (35) coming off Bruin mistakes, compared to just eight points off turnovers for UCLA.
UP NEXT
California: Hosts Washington on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 2:30 p.m. on the Pac-12 Networks.
UCLA: At Oregon on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 12:30 p.m. on the Pac-12 Networks.
Women's basketball season tickets are on sale at the UCLA Central Ticket Office (310-UCLA-WIN). For more ticket information, or to buy tickets now, click here.