UCLA Women's Basketball Beats Cal Poly to Open Season, Doubleheader

Basketball season in Westwood is officially underway.

UCLA women's basketball (1-0) took care of business against Cal Poly (0-1), opening the season with a 84-48 win on its home court. It was the first of two games taking place at Pauley Pavilion on Monday night, with UCLA men's basketball set to face off against Sacramento State at 8:40 p.m.

The Lady Bruins, meanwhile, did their job in game one of the double header, getting hot from beyond the arc early on before cruising to victory the rest of the night.

Cal Poly led 4-2 less than two minutes in, while UCLA started the night 1-for-4 from the field. The game took a hard turn after that, with the Bruins getting three points both ways to surge out to a big lead.

Guard Camryn Brown converted on an and-1 to give UCLA its first lead of the night, and then freshman wing Gabriela Jaquez – whose older brother, Jaime Jaquez Jr., will be suiting up for UCLA men's basketball later Monday night – drifted into the corner to swish a triple for her first career points. Jaquez was the first sub off the bench, and she drew a standing ovation from the crowd when she checked in.

Guard Charisma Osborne, forward Emily Bessoir and guard Dominique Onu all hit triples of their own, and after Osborne and Onu each knocked down a pair of free throws, the Bruins had strung together a 21-2 run.

UCLA's other star freshmen contributed to another big run in the second quarter, as guard Kiki Rice hit a couple shots, Christeen Iwuala got a layup to go and Jaquez sank a free throw to cap off a 10-0 stretch.

The Bruins' lead maxed out at 23 in the second quarter, with 31 of their first 40 points coming off either turnovers or offensive rebounds. UCLA entered the half up 45-25

Osborne and Bessoir did most of the damage early in the third quarter, spearheading a quick 9-3 run. The freshman trio of Rice, Jaquez and Iwuala went on a 9-2 run of their own right after, putting the Bruins up 63-33 midway through the frame.

UCLA's advantage grew to as many as 36, and it never got cut down to fewer than 30 points in the fourth quarter.

The Bruins had more offensive rebounds – 20 – than the Mustangs had defensive rebounds – 17 – winning the overall rebounding battle 48-28. UCLA also had half as many turnovers and over three times as many free throw attempts than Cal Poly.

Osborne led the way with 20 points and nine rebounds, in addition to her five assists. Bessoir also nearly notched a double-double in her return from a torn ACL with 14 points, nine boards and three blocks. Rice stuffed the stat sheet in her debut as well, putting up 12 points and seven assists.

Jaquez recorded 10 points and six rebounds in her first college outing, with her brother and his teammates cheering her on along the way.

And after struggling with health and depth for the better part of two seasons, the Bruins had 10 scholarship players take the court Monday night, all of whom scored and recorded multiple rebounds.

UCLA will return to Pauley Pavilion to face UC Riverside on Thursday, with that game scheduled to tip off at 11:30 a.m.

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