WOMENS BASKETBALL
UCLA 65, Oregon State 54
BY JILL PAINTER LOPEZ
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES - Charisma Osborne had 15 points and eight rebounds, Kiki Rice added 13 points and No. 2 UCLA beat Oregon State 65-54.
Londynn Jones scored 12 points and joined the 500-point club with a 3-pointer in the first half for the Bruins (14-0, 3-0 Pac-12).
Raegan Beers scored 11 of her 21 points in the first half for Oregon State (12-2, 0-2).
“Oregon State is a really good team and I think they’ve proven that over and over again,” Bruins coach Cori Close said. “Credit to them. I said to our team. ’Look, when you play in the best conference in the country, you’re going to have things exposed. You’re going to have bad habits exposed.’”
The Beavers have lost two straight, falling 56-54 defeat at No. 9 Southern California on Friday night.
The Bruins led most of the way and controlled the game from start to finish. UCLA went on a 7-0 run late to ice it. Jones made a nice move inside and scored, Osborne hit a 3-pointer and Lauren Betts scored inside to gave UCLA a 65-52 lead.
“We just made too many mistakes in that third quarter,” Oregon State coach Scott Rueck said. “They took control. They disrupted us. Turned us over and I thought they executed better.”
PERFECT SEASON
UCLA has handled the pressure of an undefeated season and the lofty expectations to win and the Pac-12 start hasn’t changed that.
“I think the team is doing a good job of staying focused on us and not really expectations of other people,” Osborne said. “Obviously we have really high standards for ourselves as well. I think the main thing is focusing on us and how we can improve every week.”
BIG PICTURE:
Oregon State: The Beavers but can’t let the two losses to the LA schools derail the good work they’ve done so far.
UCLA: Life is good. While the Bruins weren’t perfect in the first half, they turned it on in the second half, outscoring Oregon State 34-28. They have six days off to prepare for the next big game against crosstown rival USC.
January 7, 2024
