LOS ANGELES — Natalie Chou scored a game-high 19 points and made five 3-pointers as the UCLA women’s basketball team defeated UC Irvine, 61-48, in a first round of the WNIT on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion.

Chou, a senior, finished 6 for 9 from the field, going 5 for 7 from behind the arc. IImar’I Thomas (13 points, 12 rebounds) was the only other Bruin to score in double figures. Leading scorer Charisma Osborne (16.4 ppg) was held scoreless in the first half but finished with six points on 3-for-12 shooting to go with six rebounds and four assists.

Trailing 18-14 early in the second quarter, UCLA (15-12) found its rhythm and when a Chou 3-pointer started a 14-0 run that gave the Bruins a 28-18 lead.

UCI’s Kayla Williams hit a half-court buzzer-beater as the third quarter ended to get the Anteaters (21-12) within six points, then she added another early in the fourth to cut UCLA’s lead to 46-43. The Bruins pushed the margin back to seven points, but a Naomi Hunt 3-pointer got UCI within 52-48 with 3:50 left before UCLA closed the game with a 9-0 run.

“We knew that UC Irvine was a very good team,” UCLA coach Cori Close said. “Obviously this has been such an up-and-down ride for our team this year. We are really playing for our seniors and for the momentum that we can build going into next year.”

Williams led UCI with 13 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Hunt added 11 points and Nikki Tom finished with nine points and four rebounds.

For the Anteaters, who finished second in the Big West Conference during the regular season then lost to first-place Hawaii in the Big West Tournament title game, it was another chance to test themselves against a Pac-12 program with a proud postseason tradition.

“The best thing we can take away from this is the battle that we had,” UCI coach Tamara Inoue said. “We could have folded a couple times when they went up by 10, but we did a good job of coming back. The last three minutes of that fourth quarter was back doors and them pounding inside, and it just didn’t go our way, missing shots on the other end.

“For us, it’s about getting experience and competing. I know we can compete and play with the best. I’m just really proud of our effort today. Cori (Close) does a great job and UCLA was a bubble team (for the NCAA Tournament) this year, so I thought playing a team like this was a great matchup for us and we were excited for it.”

The Bruins will host Air Force in a second-round game on Sunday at 2 p.m. The Falcons (19-13) defeated San Francisco, 64-60, on Thursday.

“For us to be able to play at home really means a lot to us,” Close said. “It’s going to pay dividends as we advance in the tournament. Air Force is such a good defensive team. We have to be ready to play and will need to play much better than we did today. We are excited to have the chance to compete again.”

UCI shot 32.7% overall, while UCLA shot 40.7% and had a 42-32 rebounding advantage. The Anteaters had 18 turnovers, while UCLA had 15.