A brief explosion in the third quarter helped ease the pain of the final score, but the Bruins’ shooting woes sank them on their trip to Eugene.
UCLA women’s basketball (11-9, 6-6 Pac-12) lost to Oregon (17-8, 9-4) by a score of 67-53 on Wednesday night, making up a game that was previously scheduled for Jan. 28 before the Bruins were forced to back out due to an extended list of injuries. The two sides were finally able to face off a few weeks later, with the Ducks getting the better of their healed-up opponents from start to finish.
While Oregon shot 47.1% from the field and boasted three scorers in double-digits, UCLA had its second-worst shooting night of the season at 31.3% with just two players scoring more than six points. Guard Charisma Osborne and Dominique Onu each put up 16 points, but the rest of their teammates combined to shoot 9-of-41 from the field and 0-of-10 from deep.
The offensive struggles hit early, even though the Bruins were able to hold it to an 8-7 game through the first four minutes. The Ducks then went on a 10-0 run, thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers by guards Endyia Rogers, and by the time the first quarter had come to a close, Osborne was the only player on her team with more than two points.
Oregon continued to hit 3 after 3 in the second quarter, while Onu was virtually UCLA’s entire offense. It would have been a 26-2 run from the midpoint of the first quarter to the halfway mark in the second if not for Onu’s seven points in that next frame.
Down 40-20 at the half, the Bruins didn’t have a single point from guard Natalie Chou or forward IImar’I Thomas, and guard Chantel Horvat only had two. Thomas, the team’s second-leading scorer, had only attempted one shot across the first two quarters – a missed 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock 90 seconds into the game.
Thomas got involved a little more on the other side of halftime, attempting six shots in the third quarter and picking up four more points to show for it, but it was once again Osborne and Onu who commanded the offense. Osborne scored 11 points in the third quarter alone, playing the entire period, while Onu scored four of her six points from the free throw line.
A lot of those opportunities were set up by 10 offensive rebounds – three of which came from Thomas and four were from Horvat. 15 of the 24 points UCLA scored in the third quarter came from second-chance opportunities, and Oregon had let the Bruins sneak back into it for a bit.
Thomas hit a layup to start the fourth quarter, cutting the Ducks’ lead to 54-46, but that was as far as the Bruins would get.
A 3-pointer from Onu and a couple of jumpers from forward Angela Dugalic before she fouled out helped make it a 10-point game, it’s just that there were less than four minutes left at that point. UCLA went scoreless from that point on, missing its final seven shots while Oregon hit its free throws and cruised to the win.
The Bruins may have actually gotten to face off with the Ducks after a few weeks of delay Wednesday night, but the result was no different than the forfeit they were stuck with at the end of January.
UCLA, now having lost five out of its last seven, will get back on the court Friday night at Pauley Pavilion versus Colorado. That game will tip-off at 7 p.m. and be broadcast by Pac-12 Networks.
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