UConn beats UCLA to avoid 2-game skid
UConn 71, UCLA 61: Third-ranked UConn struggled again without star Paige Bueckers, but the Huskies (6-2) managed to avoid back-to-back losses for the first time since 1993, holding off UCLA (5-3) on Saturday in Newark, N.J.
Dorka Juhasz shot 5 of 5 for 16 points with 16 rebounds and Evina Westbrook added 17 points, seven assists and seven rebounds for the Huskies.
UCLA trailed 65-51 with 1:20 left before scoring 10 straight points, closing within four with 37 seconds to go. The Huskies pulled away after that.
Bueckers, the reigning national player of the year, fractured her knee last Sunday in a win over Notre Dame and the school said she will be out for up to two months. She is averaging 21.2 points, 6.2 assists, and 5.5 rebounds and had accounted for 52% of the Huskies’ offense in points or assists this season.
In their first game without her, the Huskies lost to unranked Georgia Tech on Thursday and were held to a seasonlow 44 points.
UConn hasn’t lost two straight since March 1993, before coach Geno Auriemma built the team into a perennial national power.
Charisma Osbornes led UCLA with with 26 points, while Jaelynn Penn had 10 points and seven rebounds. The Bruins fell to 0-7 overall against UConn.
No. 11 Texas 83, Idaho 43: DeYona Gaston led a balanced attack with 19 points, Latasha Lattimore had a double-double and host Texas (7-1) coasted to a win over Idaho (1-7).
The Longhorns closed the first quarter with a 15-3 run for a 26-16 lead and closed the second quarter with 11 straight to make it 48-26 at the half.
Lattimore, a freshman, had career highs of 12 points and 10 rebounds for her first career double-double. Rori Harmon scored 13 points, Kyndall Hunter had 11 and Aliyah Matharu 10. Gaston matched her career-high on 9of-12 shooting.
Tiana Johnson scored 12 points for Idaho, all in the first half. Beyonce Bea grabbed 12 rebounds.