UCLA
17-1,6-1Pac-12
Washington
10-8,2-5Pac-12
No. 10 UCLA Defeats Washington in Overtime, 85-80
January 24, 2020 | Women's Basketball
LOS ANGELES – No. 10 UCLA overcame a 15-point second quarter deficit to defeat Washington 85-80 in overtime on Friday evening. Junior Michaela Onyenwere had a dominant second half, scoring 25 of her career-high 31 points in the second half and overtime.
The Bruins (17-1, 6-1) outscored the Huskies (10-8, 2-5) 26-12 in the third quarter to turn a 35-25 halftime deficit into a 51-47 lead. Onyenwere had 13 in the quarter, including the final six points of the quarter as the Bruins grabbed their first lead of the half.
Washington used a pair of free throws by Amber Melgoza with four seconds left in the fourth quarter to send the game to overtime, but the Bruins took control early in the overtime period with an 8-1 run and held on thanks to timely offensive rebounding. The Bruins finished the game with a season-high 28 offensive rebounds. UCLA got off to a slow start in the first quarter, missing eight of its first shots and shooting just 22.7% from the field in the quarter. Washington shot out to a 10-4 lead before the Bruins used a 7-4 run to close to 14-11. However, Washington scored eight unanswered, including back-to-back threes by Rita Pleskevich, to extend the lead to 22-11 at the end of the first quarter.
The Bruins scored the first six points of the second quarter to narrow the gap to five, 22-17, at 6:48, but another three by the Huskies, this time by Missy Peterson, ignited a 10-0 Husky run that gave Washington its biggest lead of the game, 32-17.
Keyed by back-to-back jumpers by Japreece Dean, UCLA used a 7-0 run in the third quarter to close to within three, 42-39. Onyenwere tied it up for the Bruins at 47-47 with 1:05 to play in the quarter and then gave UCLA its first lead since early in the first with another layup just 15 seconds later after a steal by Charisma Osborne. Onyenwere made it six-straight with a second-chance layup just before the third quarter buzzer sounded, giving the Bruins a 51-47 lead at the end of the period.
Onyenwere's hot streak continued into the fourth quarter, as she scored her fourth consecutive basket, and Natalie Chou completed the 12-0 run with a layup to give UCLA an eight-point advantage, 55-47. Washington regrouped quickly, however, using a 10-0 run to take a 66-61 lead, tying with 4:49 to play on a three-pointer by JaQuaya Miller and regaining the lead with 4:09 to play on a Pleskevich jumper. A Chou three-pointer ended the run and cut the lead to two, 66-64, with two minutes to play, and a jumper by Onyenwere after a turnover tied it again with 1:09 to play.
With 52 seconds left on the clock, Melgoza put Washington ahead by two on a jumper, but Chou came right back down the court and hit her fourth three-pointer of the game to give UCLA the 69-68 advantage with 44 seconds remaining. With UCLA up by two, Melgoza was fouled with 4.3 seconds to play and tied the game with two clutch free throws. Dean came close to scoring the winning basket, but her three-pointer at the buzzer went off the rim, sending the game to overtime.
UCLA scored the first six points of the overtime period to take a 76-70 lead and had an 8-1 run halfway through the period to go up 78-71. Washington scored four unanswered points to cut the deficit to three, 78-75, with 58.7 seconds left, but free throws and big offensive rebounds helped the Bruins put the game away in the final minute.
Both Onyenwere and Dean just missed out on double-doubles, as Onyenwere had 31 points and nine rebounds, and Dean had 14 points with nine assists. Charisma Osborne had a team-high 12 rebounds to go along with her five points, five steals and four assists. Chou added 18 points, and Chantel Horvat scored a career-high 12 points. Melgoza led four Husky players with 14 points. Peterson scored 13, and Pleskevich and Mai-Loni Henson scored 10 each.
UCLA will next host Washington State on Sunday, Jan. 26 at Noon.
