Michaela Onyenwere helps lift No. 10 UCLA to overtime win against Cal
Michaela Onyenwere hit a go-ahead jumper in the paint with 25.7 seconds left and scored seven of her 22 points in overtime, and No. 10 UCLA held off California for a hard-fought 74-70 win Sunday to complete an impressive Bay Area sweep.
Jaelyn Brown’s 3-pointer for Cal tied it with 1:37 left and Charisma Osborne missed from the top of the arc before CJ West grabbed another timely rebound for the Golden Bears. But Cal couldn’t capitalize and a jump ball went UCLA’s way with 17.6 seconds left.
Osborne scored 17 points, Natalie Chou added 12 and Japreece Dean dished out seven assists for the Bruins (21-2, 10-2 Pac-12), who beat Cal for the sixth straight time in the series. Coming off a win Friday night at No. 6 Stanford, UCLA won its third straight since a loss at Arizona on Jan. 31.
Leilani McIntosh had 11 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Cal, which stayed in it until the end.
The Bruins had several chances to win in the closing seconds of regulation. Coach Cori Close called timeout to set up a final play with 5.3 seconds left, but Dean missed a 3 from the right wing at the buzzer.
West converted two free throws with 1:30 left in regulation for Cal that tied the game at 63, sending the crowd into a frenzy. Onyenwere missed an off-balance jumper.
It wasn’t easy and went down to the waning moments.
The UCLA men’s basketball team has won five of its last seven games, including a victory over Arizona on Saturday that showed the Bruins’ potential.
Brown scored 17 points to lead Cal (9-14, 1-11), which saw its home losing streak reach seven games but still had plenty of positives to take from this defeat.
“This will be Cal basketball and it will end up giving us Ws,” first-year coach Charmin Smith told fans after the final buzzer.
The Bears overcame poor shooting by bringing energy on both ends of the floor to fluster the Bruins, getting hands in faces on defense and crashing the offensive boards to create second opportunities to score. West blocked out with authority to pull down key rebounds, finishing with 12 and 11 points.
UCLA’s Michaela Onyenwere discusses Bruins’ win over Cal on Sunday.
Onyenwere shot 8 for 17. The junior forward had 29 points and 10 rebounds in a 79-69 victory at No. 6 Stanford on Friday night that snapped the Cardinal’s 16-game home winning streak in Maples Pavilion. She came out firing again Sunday.
Both teams struggled out of halftime with Cal missing six straight shots during one stretch.
USC women fall to Stanford
Lexie Hull had 16 points and nine rebounds, Nadia Fingall and Ashten Prechtel each scored 11 points and sixth-ranked host Stanford overpowered USC 79-59 in a Pac-12 game Sunday.
The Cardinal (21-3, 10-2) have won 10 straight against USC (12-11, 4-8) and improved to 60-12 all-time against the Trojans. USC’s last win against Stanford came in the 2014 Pac-12 Tournament.
Alyssa Jerome, Kiana Williams and Anna Wilson each added eight points for the Cardinal, who won for the 11th time in 13 games and have won 17 of their last 18 home games.
Alissa Pili scored 12 points and Aliya Jeune had 11 for USC, which lost for the third time in four games after winning three straight.
The Cardinal opened the game with a 13-0 run on their way to a 25-3 lead late in the first quarter.
Pili broke the Trojans’ game-opening scoreless drought with just over 6 minutes left in the first quarter with a 3-pointer that made it 13-3.
The Cardinal took a 49-21 lead into halftime after shooting 48.5% in the first half and holding USC to 21.9%.
The Cardinal led 28-6 after the first quarter, holding USC to 16.7% shooting.
Go beyond the scoreboard
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