UCLA rides defense to win
Bruins hold on to top Arizona; Stanford awaits
Michaela Onyenwere scored 24 points as No. 9 UCLA beat No. 11 Arizona 58-49 on Friday to reach the Pac-12 women’s basketball tournament title game at Mandalay Bay Events Center.
The third-seeded Bruins (16-4) will play No. 4 Stanford (24-2), the top seed, for the conference title at 5 p.m. Sunday.
The Bruins overcame an off-shooting night and staved off a late rally by the second-seeded Wildcats (16-5), who carved into a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to get within two with just more than a minute left. UCLA closed with a 9-2 run over the final 1:04.
Natalie Chou added seven points, six rebounds and three steals for UCLA, which lost 68-65 at Arizona in their lone regular-season meeting.
Pac-12 player of the year Aari Mcdonald led Arizona with 24 points on 8-for-24 shooting. No other Wildcats player had more than seven shots.
One night after the Bruins limited Washington to a season-low 46 points, they held Arizona to its lowest output — 18.5 points off its season average of 67.5 per game. The Wildcats’ previous low was 59 in a nine-point win over California on Feb. 19.
Neither team came out with any sort of rhythm, as UCLA was 3-for-16 from the floor in the first quarter while Arizona shot 4-for10. The Bruins’ relentless pressure on the ball, led by Chou’s two steals, forced the Wildcats into six turnovers in the opening period.
But, as UCLA began to find a groove, Arizona’s struggles carried into the second quarter after the Wildcats took a 13-10 lead on Cate Reese’s short jumper.
Arizona fell into an 0-for10 drought over the final 9:13 of the first half. UCLA took advantage by shooting 8-for-14 down the stretch and using a 15-4 run to take a 25-17 lead into the locker room.
■ No. 4 Stanford 79, Oregon State 45: Freshman Cameron Brink scored a career-high 24 points and added 11 rebounds and four blocks for the top-seeded Cardinal (24-2), who scored 18 points off 15 turnovers by the fifth-seeded Beavers (11-7).
Kiana Williams had 20 points, six assists and six rebounds for Stanford, which is 62-9 against Oregon State.
Aleah Goodman had 12 points and Taylor Jones 13 rebounds for the Beavers, who went up 16-13 when Sasha Goforth hit a 3-pointer five seconds into the second quarter.
That’s when Brink took control. She had 11 points, three blocks and two rebounds in a 20-3 run that put Stanford ahead to stay. Oregon State missed 10 of 13 second-quarter shots.
Brink, selected to the conference’s all-freshman team after averaging 9.8 points on 58.6-percent shooting and 6.8 rebounds per game, made 9 of 13 shots.
Brink’s surge sparked the Cardinal after a stagnant first quarter, when they shot 6-for-20.
Turnovers plagued Oregon State, which ranked sixth in the league with 14.1 per game but had committed 13 by the end of the third quarter. The Beavers finished with 15, and Stanford outscored them 18-5 in points off turnovers.
When the teams met Feb. 13, the Beavers challenged Stanford by getting within four midway through the third quarter before the Cardinal pulled away late for an 83-58 victory.