No. 3 Seed Bruins to Face No. 6 Seed Texas in NCAA Tournament Second Round
UCLA's Statistics (PDF) | UCLA's Notes (PDF)
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GAME INFORMATION
No. 3 seed UCLA (17-5, 12-4) vs. No. 6 seed Texas (19-9, 11-7)
Date: Wednesday, Mar. 24
Time: 8:00 p.m. CT / 6:00 p.m. PT
Location: San Antonio, Texas (Alamodome)
Watch: ESPN 2 (Beth Mowins, Debbie Antonelli, Holly Rowe)
Listen: ucla.leanplayer.com (Dave Marcus)
NCAA SECOND ROUND MATCHUP: No. 3 seed UCLA vs. No. 6 seed Texas
The No. 3 seed Bruins have advanced to the NCAA Tournament Second Round and are set to square off against the No. 6 seed Texas Longhorns. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. PT / 6:00 p.m. CT from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Beth Mowins, Debbie Antonelli, and Holly Rowe will be on the call for ESPN 2, while Dave Marcus' radio broadcast can be heard at ucla.leanplayer.com. This is the third time the Bruins and Longhorns have met in the last five NCAA Tournaments, with the teams splitting the previous two matchups. UCLA most recently knocked off the Longhorns, 84-75, in the Sweet 16 on Mar. 13, 2018 to advance to the Elite 8 for just the second time in program history.
A WIN WOULD...
• Advance the Bruins to their fifth-consecutive Sweet 16 appearance.
• Earn the Bruins their fifth-straight victory and in NCAA Second Round matchups and improve the Bruins to 7-6 overall in NCAA Second Round games.
• Earn the Bruins their 10th-straight victory across NCAA First and Second Round matchups.
HISTORY: UCLA in NCAA Tournament Second Round Under Cori Close (4-1)
• Mar. 25, 2019: College Park, Md. -- UCLA defeated Maryland, 85-80; Michaela Onyenwere with 30 points.
• Mar. 19, 2018: Pauley Pavilion -- UCLA defeated Creighton, 86-64; Jordin Canada with 21 points.
• Mar. 20, 2017: Pauley Pavilion -- UCLA defeated Texas A&M, 75-43; Kari Korver with 21 points
• Mar. 21, 2016: Pauley Pavilion -- UCLA defeated South Florida, 72-67; Jordin Canada with 19 points.
• Mar. 25, 2013: Columbus, Ohio -- UCLA lost vs. Oklahoma, 72-85; Atonye Nyingifa with 18 points.
NCAA Tournament First Round: No. 3 seed UCLA 69, No. 14 seed Wyoming 48
Michaela Onyenwere scored a game-high 25 points, Charisma Osborne posted a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds and Natalie Chou added 15 points, as the third-seeded Bruins won their NCAA Tournament opener on Monday at the Frank Erwin Center with a 69-48 win over No. 14-seed Wyoming. Onyenwere was 9-for-17 from the field, making all six of her free throws and adding seven rebounds. Osborne, who tied a season high in rebounds, was 6-of-10 with four assists, while Chou made three from beyond the arc and added six boards. Lauryn Miller had seven rebounds and six points, Emily Bessoir notched eight rebounds and four points and Lindsey Corsaro added four points.
NOTES ON THE BRUINS
• The Bruins are one of only eight teams in the nation to have reached the Sweet 16 in each of the last four NCAA Tournaments.
• The Bruins notched 17 offensive boards against Wyoming (Mar. 22) and won the rebounding battle, 43-27.
• Michaela Onyenwere has scored 1,867 points in her UCLA career and is tied for fifth on UCLA's all-time scoring list with Nirra Fields ('16). Rehema Stephens ('92) is fourth with 1,887 points. Maylana Martin Douglas ('00) is third with 2,101 points.
• Michaela Onyenwere is second in the Pac-12 in scoring (19.0 ppg) and fourth in rebounding (7.3). She is the only player in the Conference in the top five in both categories.
• Michaela Onyenwere is averaging a career-high 19.0 points per game and has scored at least 24 points in three-straight games.
• Charisma Osborne is averaging career-highs in points (16.9), rebounds (5.9), and assists (3.9) this season.
• UCLA has held three of its last four opponents to under 50 points: Washington (46 - Mar. 4), Arizona (48 - Mar. 5), Wyoming (48 - Mar. 22).
• The Bruins set a program record with 16 made three-pointers against USC (Feb. 26), going 16-for-23 on the night.
• The Bruins shot 17-for-17 from the free throw line against Oregon State (Feb. 21), good for the most made free throws in a game without a miss in team history.
• Michaela Onyenwere scored 30 points in the Pac-12 Tournament Championship game, her fifth-career 30+ point performance.
• Charisma Osborne put up 18 points, 12 assists, and 10 rebounds against USC (Feb. 26), recording the ninth triple-double in team history and the first since Japreece Dean against Yale on Nov. 26, 2019.
• UCLA is the only team with multiple players (Onyenwere, 2nd - 19.0 ppg, Osborne, 4th - 16.9 ppg) among the Pac-12's top five scorers.
• Natalie Chou is averaging a career-high 10.2 points per game and has scored in double figures in 11 games this season.
• Charisma Osborne (85) and Lauryn Miller (48) have each recorded career-high assist totals this year.
• Lindsey Corsaro has dished out at least 3 assists in 15 of her last 19 games.
• The Bruins have been ranked on the AP Top 25 in each of the last 40 weeks and have earned a top-11 ranking in each of the last 37 weeks.
SCOUTING THE LONGHORNS
Texas enters Wednesday's matchup at 19-9 on the year, posting an 11-7 mark in Big 12 play. The Longhorns are coming off an 81-62, opening-round win against No. 11 seed Bradley, a game that saw four Texas players score in double figures. One of those four was forward Charli Collier (23 points), a consensus top pick in the upcoming WNBA Draft. Collier stuffs the stat sheet on a regular basis and enters the game averaging 20.2 points and 11.8 rebounds per contest. The Longhorns have a balanced scoring attack behind Collier, as Joanne Allen-Taylor (12.2 ppg), Celeste Taylor (12.2 ppg), and Audrey Warren (10.7 ppg) all average double figures. The win over Bradley helped Texas bounce back from a 66-55 loss to Baylor in the Big 12 Tournament Semifinals (Mar. 13). The Longhorns are lead by Head Coach Vic Shaeffer, who is in his first season with the program after eight years at Mississippi State. There, he led the Bulldogs to six NCAA Tournament appearances, including a pair of National Championship appearances in 2017 and 2018.
LOOKING BACK: 2019 NCAA Tournament Second Round -- UCLA 85, Maryland 80
The Bruins' last appearance in the NCAA Second Round came on Mar. 25, 2019, an 85-80 win over Maryland. Michaela Onyenwere scored a then-career-high 30 points to lead the Bruins to victory. With the win, the Bruins advanced to the Sweet 16 for the fourth year in a row and won its their 12th-straight game in the opening two rounds of the Big Dance. With the game tied at 76 at the four-minute mark, UCLA held Maryland to just one field goal (1-for-7) to close the contest, and the Bruins, who went 20-for-21 from the free throw line and pulled down 27 offensive rebounds, notched the upset. Japreece Dean scored 22 points and went 8-for-8 from the free throw line, giving her 90 makes in her last 92 tries. She also had five assists and five rebounds.
LOOKING BACK: 2018 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 -- UCLA 84, Texas 75
The last time UCLA and Texas meet was in the Sweet 16 in 2018 (Mar. 23), a matchup that saw the Bruins take an 84-75 win and advance to the Elite 8 for the second time in program history. Jordin Canada notched 22 points in the second half after being held scoreless in the first 20 minutes. She also added eight assists and five rebounds in the winning effort. Monique Billings and Kennedy Burke added 17 and 15 points, respectively. Then-freshman Michaela Onyenwere scored eight points and added four rebounds off the bench. The win sent UCLA to the Elite 8 for the first time since 1999.
AP THIRD TEAM ALL-AMERICAN: Michaela Onyenwere
Michaela Onyenwere was named an AP Third-Team All-American for the second-straight year, becoming the first Bruin in program history to earn a spot on one of the first three AP All-America teams in two separate seasons. It also the third time in the last four years a Bruin has been named to one of the AP's three All-America teams, as Bruin great Jordin Canada ('18) also took home third-team accolades in 2018. Maylana Martin secured UCLA's only other All-America accolade in 1999 (Third-Team). The Aurora, Colo., native leads the Bruins with 19.0 points per game and has scored in double figures in all but two of UCLA's contests this year. She has compiled six 20+ point performances, including three games with at least 30 points. She recorded a career-high 33 points in the team's road win over Oregon (Jan. 3), adding 10 rebounds for the double-double. She has tallied 1,867 points for a tie for fifth place on the Bruins' all-time scoring list.
RECORD-BREAKING SHOOTING PERFORMANCES
The Bruins put together a pair of record-breaking shooting performances in their last two regular season games. The team knocked down 16 triples on just 23 attempts (69.6%) against the Trojans (Feb. 26), the most three-pointers in a single game in team history. Michaela Onyenwere and Lindsey Corsaro combined to shoot 10-11 from beyond the arc, with Onyenwere going a perfect 6-6 from distance. This performance followed the team's game against Oregon State (Feb. 21), which saw the Bruins go a perfect 17-for-17 from the free throw line. It was the most free throws made without a miss in team history.
OSBORNE'S TRIPLE-DOUBLE
Sophomore guard Charisma Osborne put together a sensational performance in UCLA's regular-season finale against the Trojans (Feb. 26), scoring 18 points to go along with 12 assists and 10 rebounds for a triple-double. She also didn't record a single turnover in 34 minutes of game action. It was the ninth triple-double in team history, and Osborne became just the seventh-ever Bruin to achieve the feat. It was the first-triple double since Japreece Dean notched 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists against Yale on Nov. 26, 2019. Osborne's 12 assists tied Jordin Canada (Nov. 18, 2016 vs. Southern) for the most assists in a triple-double in team history.
ALL-PAC-12 HONOREES: ONYENWERE, OSBORNE, BESSOIR, CHOU
Michaela Onyenwere was named an All-Pac-12 honoree for the third-consecutive season, becoming UCLA's first three-time honoree since Jordin Canada (2016-18). The senior is averaging 19.0 points per game and has moved into a tie for fifth place on UCLA's all-time scoring list with 1,867 points. Charisma Osborne was named to the All-Pac-12 list for the first time in her career. The sophomore is averaging a career-high 16.9 points per game after notching just 12.2 ppg a year ago. She has scored in double figures in all but three of the Bruins' games this season and put together a streak of seven-straight 20+ point performances from Jan. 3 – Feb. 7. Emily Bessoir was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman team, marking the fourth-consecutive season a Bruin has been tabbed to the All-Freshman squad. The Munich, Germany native is fourth on the team with 7.3 points per game. Natalie Chou was an Honorable Mention for the All-Pac-12 list.
ONYENWERE: SENIOR CLASS AWARD FINALIST
Senior forward Michaela Onyenwere has been named a finalist for the 2020-21 Senior CLASS Award, the award announced on Feb. 22. The candidates selected are those who excel both on and off the court, and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character, and competition. Off the court, Onyenwere has had a tremendous impact on UCLA Women's Basketball's social justice efforts this season, as she helped establish the team's More Than a D.R.E.A.M. initiative in response to the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Onyenwere's on-court accomplishments are extensive, to say the least, as she has become one of the all-time greats to play at UCLA.