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No. 13 UCLA Downs Fullerton Behind Strong Defensive Effort

by uclabruins.com
Dec 10, 2022

LOS ANGELES – UCLA Women's Basketball improved to 9-1 after defeating Cal State Fullerton 64-41 on Saturday inside Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. All 10 Bruins who saw action put points on the board, and three players reached double figures in the game.
 
"I thought our defense in the first half was excellent," said the Michael Price Family UCLA Women's Head Basketball Coach Cori Close. "The defense of, specifically, Charisma [Osborne], Kiki [Rice], and Londynn [Jones] was disruptive but disciplined, and that's something we've been really searching for."
 
The Bruins held Fullerton to just .192 FG% in the first half (5-for-26) while forcing 10 Titan turnovers.  Rice, Osborne, Jones and Lina Sontag ripped away seven steals in the first two quarters. UCLA grabbed a whopping 60 rebounds to Fullerton's 16, outrebounding the Titans 24-3 on the offensive glass.
 
The dynamic duo of Osborne and Rice led the way for the Bruins in the first half, combining for 20 of UCLA's 31 points in the first 20 minutes of play. The freshman floor general was +17 through 2 quarters and ended the game a team-high +23. Rice (14 points, 7-12 FG) led the Bruins in scoring for the second time this season. Osborne finished with 13 points (4-9 FG, 2-6 3FG, 3-4 FT), and Christeen Iwuala added 10 points and eight rebounds in her return to the court after missing two games.
 
Five Bruins scored in the opening period to help give UCLA a 14-6 lead. Gina Conti assisted on two of the five made baskets, including a behind-the-back dime to Osborne for a three-point bucket.
 

 
UCLA went 5-for-6 from the free throw line in the first quarter and grabbed 15 boards in those 10 minutes.
 
Rice started the second quarter hot, getting into the paint off an assist from Camryn Brown. Rice grabbed two steals for back-to-back layups, marking six-straight points and forcing the Titans to call a timeout with 8:28 left in the quarter.
 

 
The Bruins outscored Fullerton 17-6 in the second quarter and went into halftime with a 31-12 lead.
 
The Titans found some life on the offensive end in the third, scoring 14 points in the period. UCLA's lead still continued to grow, however, as the Bruins shot 9-for-16 in the quarter. Freshman Gabriela Jaquez hit a three pointer as the shot clock ran down in the last minute of the third, her first bucket of the game. Kiki Rice put in a layup after a Sontag offensive board with just seconds remaining in the third quarter.
 
UCLA began the fourth quarter leading 51-26 but experienced some offensive woes and turnover troubles in the final period. Iwuala put in a bucket with 6:06 remaining in the game for UCLA's first score of the fourth quarter. The freshman forward would go on to score six points (2-2 FG, 2-2 FT) in the final period to help lift the Bruins to a 64-41 victory over Fullerton.
 
UP NEXT: at USC (Dec. 15)
No. 13 UCLA takes on the undefeated USC Trojans on Thursday, Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. inside the Galen Center in Los Angeles. Thursday's game marks the 101st matchup between the teams, with the series deadlocked at 50 wins apiece. The game will be the Bruins' first conference battle of the 2022-23 season, and it will be broadcast on Pac-12 Los Angeles.
 

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