The Arizona women’s basketball team suffered its 11th loss in row on Friday night, this time at the hands of the No. 14 UCLA Bruins by a score of 80-53 in Los Angeles.
Six different Bruins scored in double figures, while JaLea Bennett led all scorers with a season-high 15 points for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats have been victim of slow starts recently, but that wasn’t the case in this game. After UCLA scored the first three points of the game, the Wildcats went on a 10-2 run, highlighted by 3-pointers from Malena Washington and Taryn Griffey, to put them up 10-5 midway through the first quarter.
It turns out it would be the beginning of what was a first half of runs. The Bruins countered the Wildcats’ run with an 18-2 run of their own, putting them ahead by 13 early in the second quarter. But then with the help from a couple of buckets by Bennett, Arizona would cut the deficit to 26-19 with 6:32 left in the half.
It was then UCLA’s turn, and it responded with a 15-2 run to end the first half, giving the Bruins a 41-21 lead at halftime. The Wildcats scored just once in the final six minutes of the quarter and shot just 31 percent from the field in the first half, while turning the ball over 10 times.
The Wildcats’ offense picked it up in the third quarter. LaBrittney Jones would score eight of her 10 points in the third quarter and it helped lead to a 20-point quarter. It’s the eighth time in the last 10 games that she’s scored in double figures.
However, UCLA would cruise to a lop-sided victory as the Wildcats weren’t able to get the stops they needed to climb back into the game. The Bruins shot 55 percent from the field and had a balanced attack, hitting six 3-pointers and outscoring the Wildcats 40-26 in the paint.
The loss drops the Wildcats’ record to 11-18 overall, and 2-15 in Pac-12 Conference play.
The team will play its final regular season game Sunday against the USC Trojans in Los Angeles. The Trojans beat the Wildcats by 67-57 earlier in the month.
Tipoff is at 3 p.m.
