Los Angeles –The UCLA Women’s basketball team have been taking their game to another level of late. Winning four out of their last five games.
No. 10 Bruins came out the blocks clicking against USC, winning 93-51 on Senior Day at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.
The Bruins shot 51 perfect from the floor but were 70 percent from beyond the arc. The Trojans got to 10-11 overall and end the regular season with an 8-10 record in Pac-12 play. UCLA improves to 14-4 overall and is 12-4 in Pac-12 contests.
USC hung tight in the beginning of the first quarter. USC’s Alissa Pili hit a long trey to tie things up 9-9 with 2:45 on the clock, although UCLA got the lead at 14-11 after 10 minutes of the game. In the second, the Bruins found a sweet spot downtown. They connected six 3-pointers in the first six minutes of the period, mounting a 14-0 run that would put the Trojans behind 31-13 until Jordan Sanders hit a long jump shot for a three to stop the bleeding of the Bruins. UCLA would push the tempo and finish out the half with a 43-23 lead over the Trojans.
Charisma Osbone had her ninth triple-double in team history with 18 points, 12 assists, and 11 boards. Michaela Onyenwere keeps moving up the scoring record charts, scored 30 points to move into an all-time ninth place spot. She converted a career-high six 3-pointers without a miss and UCLA knocked down a school record 16, on 23 attempts, from beyond the arc.
The Bruins outrebounded the Trojans 43-28, while USC committed 19 costly turnovers to 11 by UCLA.
USC was led by Alissa Pili’s 18 points and five boards, with Jordyn Jenkins scoring a career-high 14 points for the Trojans. But it just wasn’t enough to take down the Bruins.
Osborne opened the third quarter with a three-pointer and Onyenwere followed with her career-high fourth triple to extend UCLA’s lead to 51-23 at the 7:42 mark. Corsaro and Onyenwere were on fire, each adding triples to balloon the lead to 62-32 at the third quarter media timeout. A pair of baskets from Dominique Darius and a pair of free throws from Osborne made it 69-35 at the 1:16 mark. Pili finished the quarter with a short jumper from the left elbow, giving the Bruins a 69-39 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Even with the work of Pili and Jenkins, USC were unable to put a dent in the thirty points lead by the Trojans entering the fourth quarter. UCLA kept the Trojans at bay the rest of the way and cruised through the final frame of the game.
NOTABLE:
– SO Forward Alissa Pili scored in doubles digits for the sixth time since making her season debut on Jan. 15.
– Pili matched her season high of 18 points
– FR Forward Jordyn Jenkins set a new career high with her 14 points.
NEXT:
The Trojans now await the final ranks for the coming Pac-12 Tournament, which runs March 3-7 in Las Vegas, Nev. USC look to be the No. 8 seed position, which would put them against the No 9 seed in a 2 p.m. first-round game on March 3.
