UCLA Women’s Basketball Lets One Slip Away Against Shorthanded UConn

The Bruins were in the driver’s seat in the first half but stumbled down the stretch to lose in New Jersey.

(Jared Tay/All Bruins)

Seven attempts at a victory for the Bruins and still no dice when matched up against the Huskies.

UCLA women’s basketball (5-3) held a lead for more than half of its contest against No. 3 UConn (6-2) on Saturday afternoon in New Jersey. In the second half, however, a collapse allowed the Huskies to escape with a 71-61 victory in the Never Forget Tribute Classic.

Junior guard Charisma Osborne showed her big-game experience with 26 points and also notched a new career-high for 3-pointers with seven, but it was not enough to earn an ever-illusive win against coach Geno Auriemma’s title-winning squad.

Shaping the story of the game, UCLA shot just 33.3% from the field and grabbed 44 rebounds compared to UConn’s 45.2% shooting and 50 rebounds. Second chance opportunities allowed the Huskies to expand their lead on multiple occasions, especially in key moments down the stretch.

Making their intentions to come away with a victory heard from the opening tip, the Bruins got off to a hot start in the first quarter.

Six minutes into the game, both teams had been struggling to get the ball in the basket, shooting 4-of-19 combined from the field. However, Osborne made her presence known early, converting two 3-point attempts, with the second launched from near half-court.

The game was tied 6-6, but graduate guard Jaelynn Penn and graduate forward IImar'I Thomas combined for a 6-0 run to put UCLA up 12-6 with 3:13 remaining in the first quarter. A successful jumper for Penn and another shot from beyond the arc from Osborne made the score 17-9.

Penn finished the game with 10 points seven rebounds and a team-high three assists, but was quiet in the second half.

UConn pushed back at the end of the frame with a 5-0 run, creating a three-point game heading into the second quarter.

Getting right back on track in the next frame, UCLA shared the ball and jumped to an 11-point lead with 5:36 remaining in the half. Redshirt senior guard Chantel Horvat capped off the run with her first two points of the game.

Looking primed to end the half up by a fair margin, the Bruins fell silent offensively and allowed the Huskies to push their way back into the game. UConn scored seven unanswered points to bring the score to 30-28 heading into the break.

During third quarter action, the Bruins crawled back to a four-point lead, but with 3:41 left in the period, UConn responded. A bucket from guard Evina Westbrook saw the Huskies jump ahead 43-42 and moments later, a turnover from Penn made the deficit jump two more to 45-42.

The barrage of scoring kept coming.

With the Bruins slow to rotate on a 3-pointer, the Huskies converted their shot and the score became 50-42, capping off a decisive 14-0 run. Late points from the blue and gold shrunk the lead to six, but the Bruins were going to need to battle to the end to leave the Prudential Center with a win.

Cutting the score to a 50-48 with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, it looked like the Bruins had a shot at coming back, but the Bruins fell behind once again. A 3-pointer from Husky guard Christyn Williams expanded their lead to six.

Later in the quarter, for the second consecutive game and third time this fall, Osborne went down with an injury. This time, it seemed as if she suffered a cramp after attempting to grab a rebound, but it temporarily forced the Bruins’ leading scorer to the sidelines.

Without Osborne, the identity of the Bruins’ offense was lost, and even when she returned with 3:49 to go in the game, their basket was closed for business while the Huskies continued to pour it in.

Osborne eventually found the latch to open the hoop, drilling two straight 3-pointers to set a career-high with seven from beyond the arc in the game. Redshirt freshman guard Dominique Onu followed up the scoring with a putback bucket of her own and suddenly, the Bruins were down four points with 37.2 seconds to go.

The comeback attempt was cut short after two turnovers from the Bruins and three made free throws for the Huskies made it a 68-61 game.

UCLA falling short was wrapped up from that moment.

With the clock hitting zero, the Huskies scraped by with a closer-than-it-looked 10-point triumph over the Bruins.

Guard Paige Bueckers was unavailable for the Huskies after an injury the week prior sent her to the bench for six-to-eight weeks. Considering the reigning Naismith National Player of the Year was averaging 21.2 points per game, it became difficult for the Huskies to identify multiple scoring options against coach Cori Close’s defense.

Near the start of the contest, the Huskies found their scorer. Guard Evina Westbrook carried the workload on the offensive side of the game, ending the day with 17 points.

Thomas was matched up against Huskies’ forward Olivia Nelson-Ododa throughout all four quarters and held her own against the junior who is seven inches taller than her. Thomas matched Nelson-Ododa with 10 points, but she kept her Husky counterpart to only eight shot attempts in the contest.

Redshirt freshman forward Izzy Anstey was on the court against lengthy opponents as well, still managing to accumulate five points and a team-leading eight rebounds.

The Bruins 5-3 start to the season is their worst start to a season since 2018-2019 when the team started 3-5. They turned things around that year and made it to the Sweet 16, before ultimately falling at the hands of, naturally, the Huskies.

UCLA will look to get back in the win column on Thursday when it hosts Texas Southern at Pauley Pavilion for a 7 p.m. matchup.

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