UCLA weekend recap: Jordin Canada injured as Bruins swept in Oregon

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Oregon State Beavers guard Sydney Wiese (24) covers UCLA Bruins guard Jordin Canada (3) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game at Oregon State on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2017. Oregon State defeated UCLA 68-61. (Anibal Ortiz/The Gazette-Times via AP)

The UCLA women’s basketball team’s rough weekend got worse when All-American point guard Jordin Canada went down during the first half against Oregon State on Sunday in Corvallis. The team’s leading scorer did not return after appearing to injure her head/neck as the No. 15 Bruins fell short against No. 9 Oregon State, 68-61.

“Our offense usually starts with her and our defense starts with her. The way our team responded, and having other people step up, I was really proud of our effort and focus,” UCLA head coach Cori Close told reporters of Canada. “There are things we have to get better on, and there are things I wish were different, and I hate losing, but sometimes that’s not the true reflection of the heart a team shows, and I’m proud of our team’s heart.”

Close did not have specifics on Canada’s injury after the game.

Sunday’s loss was the second straight for the Bruins as they also lost to unranked Oregon in Eugene on Friday, 84-75. UCLA (18-7, 9-5 Pac-12) has lost three of its past four games, with the only victory coming against Stanford on Feb. 6. All four games were on the road.

In Canada’s absence, Kennedy Burke stepped up for the Bruins, leading all scorers with 18 points against the Beavers. Monique Billings had 17 points.

Against Oregon, Canada had 20 points, six rebounds and seven assists while Billings had 18 points and 12 rebounds.

Elsewhere in UCLA athletics: 

  • Softball opened its season in dominant fashion, outscoring opponents 48-2 in five straight victories at the Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament. The Bruins blanked South Dakota, 6-0, and San Diego State, 8-0, on Friday, then swept Weber State in a Saturday doubleheader, winning 4-1 then 22-1. UCLA’s 21-run win was the third-largest margin of victory in school history. The No. 8 Bruins (5-0) finished the weekend with an 8-0, five-inning win over No. 22 Notre Dame on Sunday. Redshirt freshman pitcher Rachel Garcia made her collegiate debut after the 2015 Gatorade National Player of the Year missed last season with an ACL injury. In 10 innings pitched, she gave up six hits, no runs and struck out 13 while winning both of her starts.
  • Men’s volleyball snapped a three-match losing streak with a five-set win over Pepperdine on Saturday. JT Hatch led No. 4 UCLA (10-4, 7-3 MPSF) with 24 kills, one shy of his career-best, against the Waves. The Bruins dropped a five-set road thriller to Stanford on Thursday after losing back-to-back matches to BYU the previous weekend. 
  • Gymnastics posted the highest score in the country while topping Stanford 198.125-194.175 on Saturday. The Bruins had two perfect 10s on bars, one each from Madison Kocian and Peng-Peng Lee, while notching the best team total on the event in 12 years.
  • Women’s tennis beat San Diego 5-2 on the road Sunday. Freshman Ena Shibahara, the No. 3 singles player in the country, won her No. 1 singles match in straight sets.
  • Swim and dive lost its regular-season finale to No. 5 USC 172-128.