UCLA Women’s Basketball Reschedules Postponed Game Versus Arizona
The Bruins finally have a date with the top-10 Wildcats.
UCLA women's basketball (7-4, 2-1 Pac-12) was initially supposed to host No. 10 Arizona (12-2, 2-2) on Jan. 2, but the game was one of the many contests affected by the Bruins' COVID-19 shutdown over the holiday break. It started back on Dec. 16 and wound up costing UCLA six games, none of which have been made up as of Wednesday.
However, the Bruins announced that their showdown with the Wildcats has a new date – Wednesday, Jan. 26. It will be the second of the six canceled games to be made up, with UCLA's game against USC initially scheduled for Dec. 28 getting played Thursday, Jan. 20.
That leaves the Dec. 31 contest versus Arizona State and the Jan. 7 game against Utah as the only conference games UCLA needs to take care of and pencil in at some point in February.
The elongated COVID break came right after the Bruins fell to UConn on Dec. 11, and when it finally ended, they lost to Colorado on Jan. 9. Before that stretch, UCLA had won two games in a row, and since the loss to the Buffaloes, they have now won back-to-back games again.
By beating Washington and Washington State at Pauley Pavilion last weekend, the Bruins secured their first Pac-12 sweep since the end of the 2019-2020 season. Last year, only three of the nine scheduled two-game conference series went off without a hitch, and UCLA split all three of them.
Arizona had its high-profile, neutral site nonconference game against Texas scheduled for Dec. 11 called off due to COVID-19, but it remains only one of three games the Wildcats have missed this season. Even the game against Washington scheduled for last week was replaced with a game against USC at the last second.
But after heading into that matchup with the Trojans a perfect 11-0, Arizona fell to USC at the Galen Center, then got upset on the road by Oregon six days later. The Wildcats have lost two of their last three, and although they have a homestand against Utah and Colorado coming up, they will have to get back on the road for a rescheduled road game in Los Angeles a few days later.
UCLA will also be coming off three days rest when the Arizona game tips off Jan. 26, but it won't be leaving Los Angeles before then. The Bruins will first host USC on Thursday, then visit the Trojans on Sunday.
Playing the game on Jan. 26 also sets it up to be played in front of fans, with UCLA Athletics' ban on the general public attending indoor events set to end Jan. 21. UCLA is still holding classes remotely through Jan. 28, meaning the policy could get extended another week to align with the academic timeline, but no decisions have been made on that as of Wednesday.
The game between UCLA and Arizona's men's teams falls into the same boat, set to be made up Tuesday, Jan. 25, lining it up to also have fans back in the stands at Pauley Pavilion.
That top-10 showdown will tip off at 8 p.m. on Tuesday while the game between the women's teams will get going at 5 p.m. the next day. The teams and times are set, and now it's only a matter of who will be able to see it all go down.
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