UCLA ended the year on a high note on Friday with its 82-74 win over No. 17 Oregon.
They were led by freshman Kiki Rice, who had a career-high 21 points and seven assists in the win. Her shooting percentage helped her improve to 54.5 percent over the last three games and she was 6-of-9 at halftime against Oregon.
UCLA head coach Cori Close, while happy with her team’s grit, wanted to see more from them on the other side of the ball.
“We didn’t play extremely smart, we have to work on decision-making, but we won on guts and toughness and determination,” Close said. “I told them ‘Thank goodness for that’. We play real hard and when we combine that with playing smarter, we can be real special. We are not there yet, but we have so much potential.”
Senior guard Charisma Osborne exited the game in the fourth quarter after taking a hit to the shoulder. The Bruins’ leading scorer, she added 17 points before leaving.
Close was unsure of Osborne’s status, but hoped her return would be sooner rather than later.
“A road win over a ranked team when our best player goes out and we withstand a run, then regroup and find a way to get the job done, those are huge things,” Close said. “We play a lot of freshmen a lot of…
