Charisma Osborne’s big three propels No. 8 UCLA to victory over No. 13 Colorado

For five years, Charisma Osborne has delivered for UCLA. Of course, on her senior night, she did it again.

The fifth-year guard knocked down a critical three-pointer with 1:28 left against No. 13 Colorado to spur the No. 8 Bruins to a gritty 53-45 win at Pauley Pavilion on Monday. The Moreno Valley native, one of five senior players honored before the game, finished with 14 points and two rebounds as the Bruins fought through a scoring drought in the fourth quarter.

Sophomore Kiki Rice led the Bruins with 20 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Needing to rely on defense to secure a second top-20 win of the long weekend, Rice also had three blocks and two steals as UCLA held Colorado to 28.6% shooting from the field.

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“Obviously it was not a very pretty offensive game and I apologize to all fans and people watching for that,” UCLA coach Cori Close said. “But we said, ‘Hey, we have to be willing to win it with our defense and win ugly,’ and that’s exactly what we found a way to do.”

UCLA and Colorado, the second- and third-highest scoring teams in Pac-12 play, held each other to their respective scoring lows for the season. The Bruins “weren’t tough enough,” on offense, Close said, as they couldn’t create their normal driving lanes against Colorado’s swarming defense. They turned the ball over 24 times, including 10 times in the third quarter during which Colorado (20-7, 10-6) erased UCLA’s 10-point halftime lead. When Osborne sat down for the postgame news conference, she said she was scared to look at the final turnover numbers.

“Cross that off your stat sheet, please,” she joked.

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The turnovers were the main source of Colorado’s offense. The Buffaloes scored 21 points off the miscues, including 14 during the third quarter. Once the Bruins limited the live-ball mistakes late in the fourth, their defense shined.

Colorado went scoreless from the field for the final 7 minutes, 37 seconds, scoring only four points from the free-throw line the rest of the game.

“A lot of times when your offense isn’t clicking, it’s very easy to let that be a distraction to your defense,” Close said. “I’m really proud of how we finished with that: with all guts.”

Osborne provided the offensive spark at the right moment. Clinging to a three-point lead, UCLA hadn’t scored in 6:12 when UCLA’s all-time leader in three-pointers inbounded a pass to center Lauren Betts. Osborne got the ball back with no one in front of her and didn’t hesitate.

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After reeling off 14 consecutive wins to start the season and rise to No. 2 in the country, matching a school record, UCLA stumbled during the heart of Pac-12 play. Betts was out for four games because of an undisclosed medical reason. Forwards Angela Dugalić and Lina Sontag missed time because of Olympic qualifying tournaments. The Bruins haven’t won three consecutive games since the first two weekends of the conference schedule.

By polishing off a home sweep of Colorado and No. 18 Utah, UCLA now has seven wins against ranked opponents.

“That’s what I believe we’re capable of,” Close said. “I think we had a rough spot in the middle, we didn’t have all of our players, we weren’t all healthy, but we’re getting back together now.”