No. 8 UCLA overcomes slow start, Colorado in 65-62 win

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Michaela Onyenwere scored 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds and the eighth-ranked UCLA Bruins survived a frenetic comeback by Colorado for a 65-62 victory over the Buffaloes on Sunday.

The Bruins (16-0, 5-0 Pac-12) led by 25 in the third quarter but sweated out the victory.

Peanut Tuitele’s layup with 1:05 remaining pulled Colorado to 64-62, and UCLA called a timeout. The Bruins missed three subsequent shots but grabbed offensive rebounds twice, then the ball went off Buffaloes guard Quinessa Caylao-do with 19.4 seconds remaining. It appeared she was fouled on the play but no infraction was called, and the Bruins maintained possession.

Japreece Dean hit one of two free throws with 13 seconds left to make it 65-62, and Colorado got the rebound on the miss and called timeout with 10.3 seconds remaining.

Jaylyn Sherrod’s contested 3-pointer just before the buzzer was off the mark.

Dean and Charisma Osborne each added 13 points for UCLA.

Winners of their first five Pac-12 games for the first time since the 2002-03 season, the Bruins overcame an early nine-point deficit to take a 35-29 halftime lead, then scored the first 19 points of the third quarter to make it 54-29.

The Buffaloes (13-3, 2-3) scored the final 11 points of the third quarter and cut the deficit to 62-54 with just under four minutes remaining, but the margin was too big to overcome and Colorado lost its eighth straight to UCLA.

Onyenwere, who is from Aurora, Colorado, scored 15 points in the first half to help the Bruins overcome a slow start and take a six-point lead at the break.

Onyenwere sparked an 18-4 Bruins run and it was her 3-pointer from the left corner that gave UCLA its first lead at 27-26 after the Buffaloes had jumped out to a 17-8 lead.

Mya Hollingshed’s 17 points led the Buffaloes, who have lost 15 consecutive games to top-10 teams.