No. 5 UCLA Hosts No. 1 UConn on ESPNU on Tuesday

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LOS ANGELES, Calif. – #5 UCLA (3-0) hosts #1 UConn (3-0) on Tuesday, Nov. 21 at 7:32 p.m. PT live on ESPNU to conclude a four-game home stand to open the 2017-18 season. The Huskies are making their first visit to UCLA since 1998.

GAME INFORMATION
Opponent: #1 UConn (3-0)
Series: UConn leads 4-0 (last meeting: L, 71-86 in Bridgeport, Conn. (March 25, 2017))
Venue (Capacity): Pauley Pavilion (13,800)
Date: Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2017
Tipoff Time: 7:32 p.m. (PT)
Television: ESPNU
Talent: Elise Woodward (play-by-play), Gail Goestenkors (analyst)
Internet Radio: uclabruins.com
Talent: Dave Marcus (play-by-play)
Live Stats: statbroadcast.com

FOR STARTERS
#5 UCLA (3-0) hosts #1 UConn (3-0) on Tuesday, Nov. 21 at 7:32 p.m. PT live on ESPNU to conclude a four-game home stand to open the 2017-18 season. The Huskies are making their first visit to UCLA since 1998.

SERIES HISTORY
This is the fifth overall meeting between UConn and UCLA and the third in the last four seasons. UConn has won the previous four meetings, including the first meeting at UCLA, 113-102, on Nov. 17, 1998. The Huskies also posted a 106-64 home win the following season (Dec. 23, 1999). UCLA fell to No. 2 Connecticut 86-50 in the Hall of Fame Holiday Showcase at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., on Dec. 21, 2014. Last year in the Sweet Sixteen, UConn defeated the Bruins 86-71 on March 25, 2017 in Bridgeport, Conn. UCLA battled and won the second half, proving to be a tough out, but No. 1 UConn won its 110th-straight game. UCLA was led by double-doubles from Jordin Canada (20 points, 11 assists) and Monique Billings (17 points and 16 rebounds). Senior Kari Korver was the only other Bruin to reach double figures with 15 points (5-for-11 from three-point range). UConn led 48-31 at the break and held a sizeable advantage on the glass, 24-11. The Bruins won the second half, 40-38, but never cut the deficit to single digits. UConn was led by Napheesa Collier's double-double of 27 points and 14 rebounds. Gabby Williams had 17 points and nine rebounds while Saniya Chong added 16 points. Katie Lou Samuelson rounded finished with 15 points (just one point in the second half).

SCORING RECORDS FALL
UCLA scored a school-record 129 points in its 60-point (129-69) season-opening home win over San José State on Nov. 10. The Bruins snapped a record that was set 47 years ago and then equalled 42 years ago, bettering the previous mark of 125 set in 1971 (against Utah State) and 1976 (against Oregon State). Freshman guard Kayla Owens made a 3-pointer to put UCLA over the 125-point mark with 1:21 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Bruins opened with 38 points in the first quarter (38-26), which was the most points scored by UCLA since the NCAA switched to quarters two full seasons ago (2015-16). The Bruins also scored 35 in the third quarter, which is the second-most points scored in a single quarter.

DOUBLE TRIPLE-DOUBLE
Senior Jordin Canada recorded the second triple-double of her career and the seventh in UCLA history with 26 points, 11 steals and 10 assists in the win over San José State (Nov. 10). It marked the third time in UCLA history that a triple-double was recorded with points, assists and steals and the first time it was achieved in a season opener. She joins Ann Meyers as the only Bruins to record two triple-doubles. It also marked the 31st triple-double in the history of the Pac-12 Conference.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE RECORD
In the 129-69 season-opening win over San José State (Nov. 10), UCLA had four players record double-doubles, a UCLA record. In addition to Jordin Canada's triple-double (26 points, 11 steals, 10 points), Monique Billings had 19 points and 11 rebounds, Michaela Onyenwere had 19 points and 10 rebounds and Kennedy Burke added 13 points and 13 rebounds.

JOHN R. WOODEN AWARD PRESEASON WATCH LIST
The John R. Wooden Award® presented by Wendy's® announced the Women's Preseason Top 30 on ESPN's SportsCenter and espnW and UCLA senior point guard Jordin Canada and senior forward Monique Billings have made the list. The list is comprised of 30 student-athletes who are the early front-runners for college basketball's most prestigious honor. The list is chosen by a preseason poll of national women's college basketball media members.

NANCY LIEBERMAN AWARD TOP 20 WATCH LIST
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced on Nov. 6, 2017 the 20 watch list candidates for the 2018 Nancy Lieberman Award and UCLA senior Jordin Canada was on the list. Now in its nineteenth year, the award recognizes the top point guard in women's NCAA Division I college basketball. Candidates exhibit the floor leadership, play-making and ball-handling skills of Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman.

ANN MEYERS DRYSDALE AWARD TOP 20 WATCH LIST
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced on Nov. 7, 2017 the 20 watch list candidates for the 2018 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award and UCLA junior guard Kennedy Burke was on the list. Named after the first player, male or female, named to the All-America Team in four straight college seasons, the annual award in its inaugural year recognizes the top shooting guard in women's NCAA Division I college basketball.

CHERYL MILLER AWARD TOP 20 WATCH LIST
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association announced on Nov. 8, 2017 the 20 watch list candidates for the 2018 Cheryl Miller Award and UCLA's Kennedy Burke was on the list. Named after the three-time Naismith Player of the Year, the annual award in its inaugural year recognizes the top small forwards in women's NCAA Division I college basketball.

LISA LESLIE AWARD PRESEASON WATCH LIST
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association announced on Nov. 10, 2017 the 20 watch list candidates for the 2018 Lisa Leslie Award and UCLA senior Monique Billings was on the list. Named after the three-time All-American and 1994 National Player of the Year, the annual award in its inaugural year recognizes the top centers in women's NCAA Division I college basketball.

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS
Senior point guard Jordin Canada was a first team preseason All-American by Street & Smith's, a second team All-American by Athlon Sports and a third team All-American by Lindy's Sports. Senior forward Monique Billings was a second team All-American by Street & Smith's.

PRESEASON ALL-PAC-12
Senior point guard Jordin Canada and senior forward Monique Billings were both named preseason All-Pac-12 in a vote by the league's media.

PRESEASON PROJECTIONS
For the second-consecutive year, UCLA was voted first in the Pac-12 Women's Basketball Coaches Poll and the Pac-12 Media Poll. The Bruins collected 115 points and seven first-place votes to earn the top spot ahead of Oregon and Stanford who tied for second place with 108 points each in the Coaches Poll. The Bruins received 14 first-place votes and 242 points to finish ahead of Oregon in the Media Poll. The Pac-12 is coming off another historic season where a league-record seven teams earned NCAA Tournament bids in 2016-17. Both polls were identical with Stanford being picked third or tied for second and Oregon State (4th) and California (5th) rounding out the top five. Arizona State was projected to finish sixth with Washington State, USC and Utah right behind. In 10th was Colorado while Arizona and Washington were picked to claim the last two spots.

BRUINS IN THE POLLS
UCLA enters the third week of the 2017-18 season ranked at No. 5, the highest since week one of the 1999-2000 season, in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll (week three) with 672 points and at No. 7 in the USA TODAY Sports Top 25 women's basketball coaches poll (preseason) with 582 points. The Bruins have now been ranked for 38 straight weeks in the AP Poll (dates back to week 4, Nov. 30, 2015) and for 34 consecutive weeks in the USA Today Poll (dates back to week 9, Jan. 4, 2016). The Bruins' 2017-18 ranked opponents are in bold in both polls to the left.

POLLING THE BRUINS
In addition to picking up a preseason ranking of 8th in the Associated Press Poll (second straight year in the top 10) and 7th in the USA Today Coaches Poll, the Bruins were ranked 5th by Athlon Sports, 5th by Street & Smith's and 7th by Lindy's Sports.

BILLINGS ON THE BLOCK
UCLA senior forward Monique Billings took over the top spot on the UCLA career lists for blocks with three in the win over #3 Baylor (Nov. 18), giving her 180 for her career (1.7 bpg, 109 games).

CANADA WITH THE ASSIST
UCLA senior point guard Jordin Canada moved into the second spot in career assists with 13 in the win over #3 Baylor (Nov. 18), giving her 180 for her career (1.7 bpg, 109 games).

CANADA'S EARLY SEASON NUMBERS ARE OUT OF THIS WORLD
Senior point guard Jordin Canada is off to a hot start in 2017-18, averaging 17.3 points, 8.0 assists and 4.3 steals per game. She has an assist/turnover ratio of six to one (24 assists/four turnovers) while shooting 60.6 percent from the field (20-for-33), 63.6 percent from beyond the arc (7-for-11) and 83.3 percent (5-for-6) from the free-throw line. She had a triple-double (26 points, 11 steals and 10 assists) in the season-opening win over San José State (Nov. 10) and recorded a double-double of 20 points and 13 assists in the upset win over #3 Baylor (Nov. 18).

CANADA NAMED PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
In a vote by the Pac-12 media, UCLA senior point guard Jordin Canada (Los Angeles, Calif.) was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week as announced by the league office on Nov. 20. In the Bruins' only game of the week, she recorded her second double-double of the year in leading UCLA to an 82-68 win over No. 3 Baylor. She scored 20 points and added 13 assists while shooting 50 percent from three-point range (3-for-6) against the Bears. The 13 assists were tied for the 8th-most in UCLA history. The win was UCLA's 32nd-straight home victory (second longest in the country to UConn) and the 10th-straight home win over a ranked team. It also marked UCLA's first win over a top-three opponent since beating No. 2 Stanford on Jan. 4, 2008. This marks the 55th all-time selection for UCLA and second-career weekly honor for Canada.

ALL-TIME VERSUS #1
The UCLA Bruins have faced the nation's top-ranked team 16 times previously without picking up a win. In all, UCLA is 0-2 against Connecticut when the Huskies are ranked No. 1; 0-1 vs. Virginia; 0-1 vs. Baylor; 0-3 vs. Old Dominion; 0-4 vs. Tennessee and 0-5 vs. Louisiana Tech. The Bruins are 0-5 all-time against the top-ranked team at home, 0-9 on the road and 0-2 in neutral site games. The last time UCLA hosted a No. 1 team was on Dec. 19, 2007 which resulted in an 82-70 loss to Tennessee.

2017 SWEET SIXTEEN UCONN GAME RECAP:
Fourth-seeded UCLA battled and won the second half, proving to be a tough out, but No. 1 and top-seeded UConn (35-0) won its 110th-straight game, 86-71, at Webster Bank Arena. UCLA, which ended the season at 25-9, was led by double-doubles from Jordin Canada (20 points, 11 assists) and Monique Billings (17 points and 16 rebounds). Senior Kari Korver was the only other Bruin to reach double figures with 15 points (5-for-11 from three-point range). The Bruins came out red-hot and built a 9-2 lead with points from Canada, Billings, Korver and Kennedy Burke with 7:20 remaining in the first. But UConn used a 7-0 run to tie the game at 9-9 and broke open an 11-11 tie (4:11) with an 11-2 run to build a 22-13 lead at the end of the first quarter. Canada scored the first points of the second quarter and Kelli Hayes hit a three-pointer, but all while UConn was in the midst of a 15-5 run to push the lead to 37-18 (6:07). Korver got hot down the stretch of the second quarter and hit back-to-back treys, but both were answered by 3-pointers from Napheesa Collier and Katie Lou Samuelson for the Huskies. UConn led 48-31 at the break and held a sizeable advantage on the glass, 24-11. The third quarter started off well with the Bruins cutting the lead to 14 (52-38) on a three by Nicole Kornet (7:26). But UCLA endured another three-minute scoring drought. Kornet hit a second three in the period (2:21) followed by a layup from Billings (1:42) that helped UCLA cut the deficit to 12 (62-50). But the Huskies entered the fourth quarter leading 65-52. When the dust settled, UCLA had won the third quarter, 21-17. The Bruins battled in the fourth quarter, losing the period 21-19, but UCLA could never cut the deficit to single digits. Down by as many as 20 points (76-56) with 6:15 to go, the Bruins got a fifth three-pointer of the game from Korver, which put her tied in the top spot on UCLA's career record list with Lisa Willis (2003-06) with 256 career treys. The Huskies were led Collier's double-double of 27 points and 14 rebounds. Gabby Williams had 17 points and nine rebounds while Saniya Chong added 16 points for UConn. Samuelson rounded out the quartet of UConn players in double figures with 15 (just one point in the second half).

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No. 5 UCLA Hosts No. 1 UConn on ESPNU on Tuesday

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