The UCLA women’s basketball advanced to the round of 16 in the National Invitation Tournament with a 61-45 win over Air Force on Sunday at Pauley Pavilion.
Forward IImar’I Thomas led UCLA with 17 points and contributed six rebounds. Charisma Osborne added 13 points and Angela Dugalic had 11.
UCLA led the game for all but 16 seconds and pulled away with a 10-0 run in the second quarter.
The Bruins (16-12) outscored Air Force (19-14) in the paint, 38-24, and the UCLA bench outscored Air Force, 20-5.
Haley Jones, from West Torrance High, led Air Force with 10 points.
UCLA will play at Wyoming in the round of 16 (time to be determined). Wyoming (17-12) was a 97-90 winner over Tulsa Sunday, in triple overtime.
“We want to be playing our best and this is going to demand our best,” said UCLA coach Cori Close of the Wyoming matchup in Sunday’s postgame press conference. “We need to expect ourselves to be playing in championships and right now that opportunity is in the NIT.”
Related Articles
UCLA holds off UC Irvine in WNIT opener
UCLA, UC Irvine, Long Beach State, Cal Baptist in WNIT field
Oregon edges UCLA women in Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal
Thomas, Dugalić lead UCLA women past USC in Pac-12 Tournament opener
UCLA, USC renew rivalry in Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament