UCLA uses late run to defeat USC in Pac-12 women’s tournament

When UCLA forward Michaela Onyenwere decided it was time to take over the game Friday, there wasn’t much Southern California could do about it.

Onyenwere scored 15 of her 27 points in the fourth quarter and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead the second-seeded Bruins to a 73-66 win over the seventh-seeded Trojans in the Pac-12 women’s basketball tournament quarterfinals at Mandalay Bay Events Center.

“It is truly amazing, just the things that she does,” UCLA guard Lindsey Corsaro said of Onyenwere. “Being a guard, I know I’m going to throw it to her in those moments because we know she’s going to make plays. It is amazing the things she can do.”

UCLA will meet No. 3 Stanford at 8:30 p.m. Saturday in the semifinals. The other semifinal matches No. 1 Oregon against No. 4 Arizona at 6. The championship game is at 5 p.m. Sunday.

It was a back-and-forth game with six ties and nine lead changes, and it was tied at 60 with 5:24 remaining before the Bruins (26-4) went on a 9-0 run to gain control.

Endiya Rogers led the Trojans (17-14) with 18 points and five assists before fouling out with 3:15 left. Foul trouble was a common theme for the Trojans, who used only seven players. Three others finished with four fouls, and coach Mark Trakh said the Trojans “ran out of gas a bit.”

Kayla Overbeck had 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Trojans, who led by 15 points in the first quarter. The Bruins shot 23 percent in the quarter and missed their first seven 3-pointers.

Natalie Chou got UCLA going with a three-point play and 3-pointer early in the second quarter. She finished 5-for-5 from the floor for 14 points, and the Bruins rallied for a 27-26 halftime lead.

The Trojans led 52-46 after three quarters.

UCLA shot 38 percent from the field and had 17 offensive rebounds and turned 16 USC turnovers into 24 points.

No. 3 Stanford 68, No. 6 Oregon State 57 — Kiana Williams scored 23 points for the Cardinal, who never trailed.

Stanford (26-5) outrebounded the Beavers 31-23 and led by 20 points late in the third quarter.

Destiny Slocum and Aleah Goodman scored 10 each for Oregon State (23-9).

No. 1 Oregon 79, No. 8 Utah 59 — Sabrina Ionescu led the Ducks with 19 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.

Satou Sabally added 17 points for Oregon (29-2), which shot 50 percent from the field, including 12 of 23 from 3-point range.

The Utes (14-17) led 19-16 after the first quarter but were outscored 29-10 in the second. Lola Pendande had 15 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for Utah.

No. 4 Arizona 86, No. 12 California 73 — Cate Reese scored 30 points on 13-of-15 shooting for the Wildcats, who never trailed.

Arizona (24-6) had three others in double figures — Aari McDonald (13), Dominique McBryde (11) and Amari Carter (10) — and outscored the Golden Bears 44-18 in the paint.

Jaelyn Brown scored 25 and Jazlen Green 15 for Cal (12-19).

Contact Jason Orts at jorts@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2936. Follow @SportsWithOrts on Twitter.