Led by Charisma Osborne, No. 6 UCLA takes down No. 5 Stanford 70-66
Bruins hand Cardinal second consecutive loss
That winning feeling! ? #Elite pic.twitter.com/uSixoR8kdo
— UCLA W. Basketball (@UCLAWBB) January 23, 2021
No. 6 UCLA (9-2, 7-2 Pac-12) exacted revenge on No. 5 Stanford (11-2, 8-2) with a 70-66 victory Friday night in Santa Cruz. Back on Dec. 21, the Bruins lost a home contest to Stanford 61-49. Friday’s defeat at Kaiser Permanente Arena was the second consecutive loss for the Cardinal.
Led by sophomore guard Charisma Osborne and senior forward Michaela Onyenwere, the Bruins overcame a sluggish first quarter to upend their opponent. Stanford junior guard Lexie Hull began the contest with a three-point shot. There were four ties in the first quarter, yet Stanford never trailed in the first ten minutes. The Bruins shot just 24% (4-17) from the field compared to 64% (9-14) by the Cardinal. Stanford had a 20-15 lead after the first ten minutes.
UCLA came alive in the second period with a 5-0 run to tie the game. After getting outscored 15-9 by, Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer called a timeout with the Bruins leading 30-29. UCLA continued to outpace Stanford, leading by as much as seven before the break.
Overall, the Bruins outscored the Cardinal 26-16 in the second quarter and improved their field goal percentage to 52.6%. UCLA went into the locker room with a 41-36 advantage. At that point, Osborne led all scorers with 14 points.
UCLA continued to keep Stanford at bay in the third quarter, outscoring their opponent 18-16. Osborne led the way and by the end of the quarter had 21 points plus six rebounds. The Bruins led the Cardinal 59-52 heading into the last period.
Stanford trimmed their deficit early in the fourth quarter to just five points. After a run by the Cardinal to climb from an 11-point deficit, the game was tied 63, all with just 3:30 left in the game. It was a back-and-forth contest down the stretch as both teams played at a frantic pace. However, with several players in foul trouble and a stark offensive rebounding deficit, Stanford did not have enough to mount a comeback over the hot Bruins.
Overall, UCLA outrebound Stanford 44-31, with the Bruins grabbing 21 offensive boards compared to just 7 by the Cardinal.
Osborne finished with a game-high 24 points plus 9 rebounds and 3 steals.
Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said “Osborne had a great game. We couldn’t guard her.”
Onyenwere added a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard Natalie Chou contributed 12 points plus 5 rebounds and freshman forward Emily Bessoir chipped in with 11points and 9 rebounds.
Stanford had four players in double figures led by senior guard Kiana Williams who scored 19 points and dished out 5 assists. Others in double figures included sophomore forward Fran Belibi (14 points), sophomore guard Haley Jones (12 points, 5 rebounds), and Hull (11 points, 6 rebounds).
VanDerveer praised the overall effort of UCLA.
“I just have to credit a UCLA they were extremely aggressive. They had 21 offensive boards, and they were extremely physical. And they came to play.”
Up next for Stanford is a contest in Santa Cruz against USC. UCLA returns home for games against Arizona State (Jan. 29) and Arizona (Jan. 31).
