(Jared Tay/All Bruins)
UCLA Women's Basketball Weathers Season-Worst Shooting to Beat Cal
The Bruins hadn't hit a 3-pointer all day, and while they had managed to hold off the Golden Bears for most of the game, it was finally catching up with them.
They had fallen behind as their Bay Area rivals caught fire from distance to end the third, actually facing a seven-point deficit at one point. The Bruins, meanwhile, had missed their first 10 triples, and their shooting from the other areas of the court wasn't much better.
Natalie Chou wasn't responsible for any of those 10 misses from deep, and based on what went down in the fourth, her team may have been better served if she had started launching 3s a little earlier on. Chou hit back-to-back 3-pointers to open the quarter, scoring the Bruins' first eight points of the fourth and providing the spark necessary to make a much-needed comeback.
UCLA women's basketball (10-8, 5-5 Pac-12), fueled by Chou's hot start to the final quarter, recovered to defeat Cal (10-6, 1-4) 59-54 at Pauley Pavilion on Sunday, breaking the team's four-game losing streak plagued by injuries, shifting travel plans, forfeitures and more. Coach Cori Close said she confronted Chou before the start of the fourth, drawing up plays for her and challenging her to be more aggressive moving forward.
"We need her to be that way all the time," Close said. "We needed somebody else on the perimeter to give us some lift, and Natalie was that person in the fourth quarter."
Chou was one of just two UCLA players to shoot above 50% from the field in what turned out to be the team's least efficient performance from the field in over a year.
The Bruins entered Sunday 1-6 this season in games where they shot under 39% from the field. That trend was bucked in more ways than one, as they ultimately shot season-worsts at 30.2% from the field 15.4% from deep while tying their season-low with 19 shots made.
In many ways, UCLA had the upper hand in the first half, never trailing across the first two quarters and securing advantages in most major statistical categories. The one thing that held them back, however, was their shooting.
The Golden Bears actually outshot the Bruins 38% to 33% in the first quarter, but thanks to their three offensive fouls and eight turnovers in the opening period, they hadn't even attempted half as many shots as their opponent. UCLA doubled up Cal right before the end of the frame, as guard Dominique Onu got a defender to leap before knocking down a scoop layup at the buzzer to make it 12-6.
Onu was part of yet another new-look starting lineup for the Bruins, making it four games in a row that Close has had to draw up a different five-player group to take the court at the opening tip. Guard Jaelynn Penn remained out for the sixth-consecutive game, meaning there were once again only eight players available for UCLA, but they spread the wealth evenly to start the game.
Six different Bruins scored in the first quarter, each scoring two points apiece. Things shifted a bit to start the second – forward IImar'I Thomas became the de facto focal point of the offense in the low post, scoring four consecutive points, while the Golden Bears started getting to the line and hitting their 3s.
Cal got 12 of their 16 points from the charity stripe and beyond the arc in what wound up being a back-and-forth second quarter that featured four separate ties. The Golden Bears were never able to pull ahead, though, and the game was tied at 22 when the teams headed back to the locker room for halftime.
UCLA shot 25% from the field and missed all eight 3s it took in the first half, and it also failed to capitalize on the major advantages it did have through those first two periods. The Bruins were winning the turnover battle 13-9 and the offensive rebounding battle 14-5, but only outscored the Golden Bears 6-5 off turnovers and 6-5 on second chance points.
A few minutes into the third quarter, Cal finally took its first lead of the day on an and-1 by guard Cailyn Crocker, only for UCLA to retake the lead when Thomas hit a pair of free throws. Thomas scored the Bruins' first four points of the second half, making her the first player on either team to reach double figures.
Both teams were shooting 23% from the field with a minute to go in the third, barely on pace to break 40 points by the final buzzer. UCLA led by one until Cal hit some free throws and knocked down back-to-back transition 3s to go up by seven. Guard Camryn Brown's buzzer-beating layup cut it to a 37-31 game heading into the fourth, but the Bruins' 0-for-10 performance from deep was still intact.
Close credited that moment as an emotional spark for her team, giving them enough juice to battle it out down the stretch.
"I thought that was a really important turning point that gave us some emotion going into the fourth, cause there was not a whole lot," Close said.
That's when Chou broke through with a 3 – off an assist from Brown, no less – then she hit another from the left corner a few minutes later. Chou converted on a floater to close the gap to two, then it was Brown who tied things up with a layup the very next possession.
The Golden Bears momentarily snatched the lead back, until Thomas got an and-1 in the post with 4:01 remaining that made it 44-43 Bruins. Thomas backed down her defender and got another bucket 90 seconds later, and she nearly did it again the next possession, which ended in Horvat swishing a second-chance floater.
Cal hit a 3-pointer to trim UCLA's newfound lead from five to two, but the Bruins picked up 11 points from the free throw line in the final minute to weather that plus two more triples late.
Thomas, who was coming off the bench for just the second time all year, led the team with 16 points. Chou had 11, Osborne and Horvat had eight and Onu and Brown had six, spreading the low-scoring load wide across the ever-changing rotation.
UCLA will now hit the road, heading up north to face Washington State on Friday at 7 p.m.
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