No. 11 UCLA Hosts Northern Colorado

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LOS ANGELES – The 11th-ranked UCLA women's basketball team (3-0) looks to continue its dominance at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom on Friday, Nov. 22, when it hosts Northern Colorado (2-3) at 7:05 p.m. PT. The Bruins have won 64 of their last 72 at home, including going 3-0 already this season.

GAME INFORMATION
No. 11 UCLA (3-0) vs. Northern Colorado (2-3)
Date: Friday, Nov. 22
Time: 7:05 p.m. PT
Location: Los Angeles (Pauley Pavilion)
Watch: Live Stream
Listen: Live Audio (Play-By-Play: Dave Marcus)
Statistics: Live Stats

SERIES HISTORY
Friday marks just the 2nd meeting all-time between UCLA and Northern Colorado. The Bruins won the only other meeting, 74-60, in Los Angeles in the third round of the WNIT (March 26, 2015). Nirra Fields led the Bruins in that win, marking her third-straight WNIT contest with 20-plus points. Jordin Canada finished with 14 points and was joined by Kari Korver's 11 points to complete the Bruin trio in double figures. Billings had a solid outing of six points, six rebounds, three blocks and two steals. The Bears were led by Stephanie Lee's game-high 31points (13-for-23 from the field). D'Shara Strange was the only other UNC player to score in double digits with 12 points, just missing a double-double with nine boards. Korver is now an assistant coach with Northern Colorado. Former UCLA assistant coach Jenny Huth is in her second year as the head coach for the UNC Bears while former UCLA WBB video coordinator is also an assistant coach at Northern Colorado.

UP NEXT
UCLA will conclude a five-game home stand with Yale on Tuesday, Nov. 26 at 7:05 p.m. PT. The game will be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks.

THE STORYLINES

UCLA is in its ninth season under head coach Cori Close, who is 25 wins away from 200 for her career and owns an overall record of 175-99 (.639).
The Bruins have won 64 of their last 72 games at Pauley Pavilion, including their last six. UCLA went 11-5 at home last season.
UCLA established a school record in the win over Loyola Marymount (Nov. 9) with 11 assists in the second quarter. It marked the most assists of any quarter.
In 2018-19, Cori Close led UCLA to its fourth-straight 20-win season and fourth-straight trip to the Sweet 16. UCLA joins a list of eight teams in the NCAA that have made the Sweet 16 each of the past four seasons (Baylor, Mississippi State, Notre Dame, Oregon State, South Carolina, Stanford, UConn).
UCLA returns three starters from a year ago, including 2019 All-Pac-12 selection Michaela Onyenwere, who led the team in scoring with 18.3 points per game and became the fourth Bruin in program history to score 600 or more points in a single season.
UCLA also brings back floor general Japreece Dean, who averaged 14.1 points, 4.9 assists and shot 92.2 percent (107-for-116) from the charity stripe, setting a UCLA single-season record for free throw percentage.
The Bruins won 13 of their last 17 games in 2018-19 to finish 22-13 overall.
Lindsey Corsaro started all but one game in 2018-19 and was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman team after she averaged 7.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 2018-19.
As a team, UCLA shot 73.4 percent from the free throw line last season, the best in program history.
UCLA finished second in the NCAA and first in the Pac-12 in offensive rebounds per game (17.3), and also led the Pac-12 in both free throws made (492) and attempts (670).

HOT STARTS

The Bruins have gotten off to a hot start in each of their first three home victories at the start of the 2019-20 season.
UCLA scored the first 12 points of the game against Weber State (Nov. 6) until the Wildcats made a free throw at the 6:15 mark.
UCLA scored the first eight points of the game against LMU (Nov. 9) until the Lions made a layup at the 5:20 mark of the first quarter.
UCLA scored the first 20 points of the game against LBSU (Nov. 14) until the Beach made a layup at the 2:24 mark of the first period.

DEAN RETURNS, ONYENWERE CRUSHES LBSU

Michaela Onyenwere scored 27 points, including 14 points in the first period, as No. 11 UCLA cruised to an 86-51 win over Long Beach State on Nov. 14. For her efforts, Onyenwere was named the UCLA/Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week for Nov. 11-17.
The Bruins scored the first 20 points of the game.
Kiara Jefferson scored 13 points and had three steals, three rebounds, and one assist.
Chantel Horvat registered 11 points and four rebounds in 15 minutes of action against LBSU.

ALL-AROUND PERFORMANCES AGAINST LMU

All-around performances from several Bruins helped the No. 11 UCLA women's basketball team take down Loyola Marymount 74-52 on Nov. 9.
Lindsey Corsaro matched a career-high of 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting to go along with six assists.
Lauryn Miller collected her first-career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Natalie Chou played a team-high 32 minutes and had five steals and three blocks to go along with 15 points and seven boards.
Chantel Horvat played in her first game since Jan. 11, 2019, and contributed eight points and eight rebounds.

OSBORNE SHINES IN SEASON OPENER

Freshman Charisma Osborne scored a game-high 17 points in her UCLA debut to lead the Bruins to a dominant 85-45 win over Weber State in their season opener on Nov. 5.
Osborne also had five rebounds and four assists.
UCLA forced 26 turnovers, 17 of which came in the first half.
Three other Bruins scored in double figures: Onyenwere (16), Corsaro (14) and Jefferson (12).
The Bruins also dominated the glass, 48-31, led by Kayla Owens' career-high 13 rebounds.
UCLA improved to 31-15 all-time in season openers.

ALL-PAC-12 SELECTIONS RETURNING

UCLA returns three starters from last year, including 2019 All-Pac-12 honoree Michaela Onyenwere, the team's top returning scorer (18.3 PPG) and rebounder (8.5 RPG). She eclipsed the 30-point mark at Maryland last season, becoming the second Bruin ever (Nikki Blue) to score at least 30 in the Big Dance and propelling UCLA to its fourth-straight Sweet 16.
Lindsey Corsaro made the Pac-12 All-Freshman team in 2018-19. She averaged 7.3 PPG and 4.4 RPG and scored a career-high 18 points vs. Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament.
Granted another year of eligibility late in the 2018-19 season, Japreece Dean returns for her final year in Westwood. She finished third on the team in scoring (14.1) and averaged 4.9 assists.

FRESH FACES

UCLA's top-10 recruiting class made its debut in Westwood in the win over Weber State on Nov. 5, 2019. The highly-touted class includes McDonald's All-Americans, Jaden Owens and Charisma Osborne, as well as 6-2 forward Brynn Masikewich (DNP) and defensive stopper Camryn Brown (DNP).
After redshirting due to NCAA transfer rules (Baylor), Natalie Chou finally had an opportunity to contribute on the court. She played 64 career games (21 starts) for the Lady Bears, averaging 5.5 PPG and 2.6 RPG.

BRUINS IN THE POLLS

UCLA is ranked No. 11 in the most recent Associated Press (AP) Poll (Week 3 - Nov. 18, 2019) and the USA Today Coaches Poll (Week 3 - Nov. 19, 2019).
UCLA was ranked No. 11 in both the Associated Press (AP) and USA TODAY Sports preseason polls.
The Bruins are one of four Pac-12 teams ranked in the AP poll and one of five ranked in the USA Today Poll.
The Pac-12 Conference boasts a trio of teams in the top-10 (No. 1 Oregon, No. 3 Stanford, and No. 7 Oregon State).

PRESEASON LOVE FOR THE BRUINS

UCLA earned recognition in several preseason college basketball magazines. The Bruins were picked 11th by Street & Smith's, 12th by Lindy's Sports and 16th by Athlon Sports. In each of those magazines, Michaela Onyenwere was recognized as a Third-Team All-American.
The Bruins were picked as high as 10th by NCAA.com, which placed four Pac-12 teams in the top-10.

HARD WORK IN THE CLASSROOM

The Bruin women's basketball program notched a 100 percent graduation rate in 2018-19, helping UCLA Athletics tally an all-time high Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 92 percent.

YOU BETTER WATCH OUT

Japreece Dean and Michaela Onyenwere made the the Women's Citizen Naismith Trophy Watch List. A total of 50 players made the list, which will be trimmed to 30 in early February.
Michaela Onyenwere earned a spot on the Women's Preseason Top 30 Watch List on ESPNW for the John R. Wooden Award® presented by Wendy's®. The list is comprised of 30 student-athletes who are the early front-runners for college basketball's most prestigious honor.
Adding to her list of preseason plaudits, Michaela Onyenwere also made the 2019-20 Preseason 'Wade Watch' List, an award given to the best player in women's college basketball. Last season, the award was given to Sabrina Ionescu of Oregon.
Japreece Dean was named to the Watch List for the Nancy Lieberman Award, given to the top point guard in the NCAA. A total of 20 point guards were named to the list, five of which came from the Pac-12. This was the most out of any conference in the NCAA. In 2018-19, Dean finished third on the team in scoring with 14.1 points per game and ranked seventh in the Pac-12 in assists per game at 4.9. In the final seven games of the season, she registered 16.7 points and 6.6 assists per outing.
Michaela Onyenwere was one of five forwards from the Pac-12 who earned a spot on the Watch List for the 2020 Cheryl Miller Award, which recognizes the top small forward in the country. Last year, she led the Bruins in scoring (18.3 PPG) and ranking second on the team in rebounds (8.5 RPG). Onyenwere hauled in 4.1 offensive boards – good for second in the Pac-12 and 11th nationally.

ELITE PROGRAM

UCLA eclipsed the 20-win mark and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight season under Cori Close.
The Bruins averaged an astounding 17.3 offensive rebounds per game in 2018-19, ranking first in the Pac-12 and second in the NCAA. Over four of those offensive boards came from Michaela Onyenwere, who was 11th in the NCAA in that category.
UCLA took down seven ranked opponents last year.
The Bruins had two top-10 wins, defeating No. 2 Oregon and No. 9 Maryland.
For the fourth-straight season, UCLA finished fourth or higher in the Pac-12 Conference.

ROAD WARRIORS

UCLA finished 9-3 on the road in 2018-19.
Five of UCLA's nine road triumphs were against ranked opponents.
The Bruins' two top-10 road wins were the most by the program since the 1980-81 season.

SUCCESSFUL SCRIMMAGES

UCLA had two closed scrimmages in late October. Per NCAA compliance rules, these could not be promoted; however, details and results could be shared following the scrimmages.
The Bruins defeated Gonzaga in Spokane by a final count of 77-71. The Bruins shot 54.8 percent from the field and were led by Michaela Onyenwere's 24 points and six rebounds. Charisma Osborne added 12 points and went 8-for-8 from the stripe.
UCLA led by as many as 19 points in a thrilling 67-66 win over Louisville. Five players scored in double figures for the Bruins - Onyenwere, Osborne (14); Chou (12); Corsaro, Owens (11).

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No. 11 UCLA Hosts Northern Colorado

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Players Mentioned

Camryn Brown

Jordin Canada

Natalie Chou

Lindsey Corsaro

Japreece Dean

Chantel Horvat

Kiara Jefferson

Kari Korver

Brynn Masikewich

Lauryn Miller

Michaela Onyenwere

Charisma Osborne

Jaden Owens

Kayla Owens

University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics

No. 11 UCLA Hosts Northern Colorado

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Players Mentioned

Camryn Brown

Jordin Canada

Natalie Chou

Lindsey Corsaro

Japreece Dean

Chantel Horvat

Kiara Jefferson

Kari Korver

Brynn Masikewich

Lauryn Miller

Michaela Onyenwere

Charisma Osborne

Jaden Owens

Kayla Owens

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