Bruins Pick Up Road Win at Washington
SEATTLE -- The UCLA women's basketball team (11-8, 6-6) outscored the University of Washington (5-13, 0-10) 69-61 to capture its second conference road win of the season in a Pac-12 game played in Alaska Airlines Arena at HEC Edmundson Pavilion on Sunday afternoon. Charisma Osborne and IImar'I Thomas keyed a second-half comeback for the Bruins who trailed 37-32 at half. Osborne scored 14 of her game-high 22 points in the third and fourth quarters while Thomas added 10 of her 11 points after the break. The two Bruins combined to convert eight of 10 field goals, including five of six three-point shots after halftime. Chantel Horvat chipped in with 13 points and nine boards.
Washington pulled out to a five-point halftime lead after shooting 61% from the field over the first two quarters. The Huskies nailed eight out of 11 three-point field goal attempts while establishing their advantage. The Bruins fell behind 16-13 after the first quarter of action, but rattled off the final two points of the first frame and then added the first eight points of the second quarter to complete a 10-0 run. That streak lifted the visiting Bruins in front 23-16 with 7:04 to play in the second quarter. Osborne supplied half of UCLA's points during the stretch with a three-point shot and a pair of free throws.
The Huskies battled back to even the score at 24-all at the 5:09 mark of the second quarter. With the score level again at 29-each, UW fired in back-to-back three-point shots to take a 35-29 lead with 1:38 to go in the half. Natalie Chou responded with her own three-point shot on an assist from Osborne but Washington closed the first half scoring with an offensive rebound basket for the 37-32 edge at the break.
The Bruins stepped up the defensive pressure to begin the second half and outscored the Huskies 12-2 to begin the third quarter. Osborne, with two from distance, and Thomas, with one, knocked down three-point shots during the stretch which pushed UCLA into a 44-39 lead at the 4:21 mark. Angela Dugalic added her first two baskets of the season to put UCLA up 47-41 with 3:15 to play. A Horvat basket after an offensive rebound elevated UCLA to its largest lead of the contest, at 51-44, with 0:29 to go. The Huskies, who were outscored 19-9 during the quarter, tallied just before the buzzer to cut the Bruin advantage to 51-46 heading into the fourth quarter of play. UCLA scored 10 of its points off of Husky turnovers.
Thomas scored UCLA's first seven points of the fourth quarter as the Bruins took command of the game with a 58-48 lead with 6:56 to go. UW answered with a couple of baskets to slice the gap in half at 58-53 with 5:07 remaining. Osborne's fifth three-point shot of the game, this one from the deep right corner, snapped the UW run and helped the Bruins to a 61-53 lead with just under four minutes to play. A Horvat lay in on an assist from Osborne put UCLA back up by 10, 63-53, with 2:29 to go. After the Huskies closed to 65-59 on a season-best 11th three-pointer, Osborne sliced through the Husky defense and scored on a lay up with 0:31 to play for a 67-59 advantage. Chou added a couple of free throws to push the margin back to 10 points. Washington scored just before the final buzzer to give the Bruins a 69-61 win.
UCLA will return to the Northwest to take on Oregon on Wednesday at 4 p.m. in Eugene for a non-conference game which was recently added to the schedule. The Bruins then head back to Los Angeles to host Colorado on Friday at 7 p.m. and Utah on Sunday at Noon in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom in the final regular season home contests of the season.