Onyenwere leads No. 9 UCLA women past Colorado 62-52
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Michaela Onyenwere scored 16 points and Japreece Dean added 12 to lead No. 9 UCLA to a 62-52 win over Colorado on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion.
The Bruins (25-4, 13-4 Pac-12) played well defensively, holding Colorado to 23 points in the first half. The teams combined for 36 turnovers.
Colorado made more mistakes, unforced and otherwise, with 19 turnovers. The Bruins were sloppy as well with 17 turnovers but had control of the game throughout in bouncing back from a 74-68 loss at Washington five days earlier.
UCLA had a 31-23 halftime lead and got off to a good start in the third quarter with a 9-0 run — on baskets from four players — to build a 42-27 lead with 5:32 left. Dean also took a big charge early in that spurt and Charisma Osborne hit a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession. Dean made a layup for a 15-point lead, the largest of the game.
Mya Hollingshead had 22 points for Colorado (16-12, 5-12), which has lost 11 consecutive games in the series.
Colorado was coming off its most impressive win of the season against No. 11 Arizona, but the Buffaloes were cold from the start.
UCLA built a 20-8 lead during the first quarter. The Buffaloes had six turnovers in the period and shot just 27.3% from the field. Colorado had 12 turnovers in the first half.
Colorado stayed in the game in the first half with nine second-chance points, while UCLA had none. But the Bruins led by as many as 14 at 24-10 on a pair of free throws by Natalie Chou.
The Buffaloes had won two of four overall after losing seven of their previous eight games.
BIG PICTURE
Colorado: The Buffaloes want to play well over this final weekend to get the best possible seed for the Pac-12 Tournament, so they’ll need to take care of the ball Sunday.
UCLA: The Bruins are already guaranteed a top-four seed and a bye in the conference tournament, so the goal is to sweep the homestand and be playing well.
UP NEXT
Colorado: Plays its final Pac-12 regular-season game at USC on Sunday.
UCLA: Hosts Utah on senior day Sunday, the final tuneup before the Pac-12 Tournament.
