W. basketball loses a tough one to U. of Arizona
Despite 21 second-half points from Hughes, UCLA could not
overcome 16-point deficit in enough time to win
By Hye Kwon
In what has to be the toughest loss in the season thus far, the
UCLA women’s basketball team fell to Arizona, 64-61, on Saturday
afternoon at Pauley Pavilion.
The Bruins (7-8 overall, 2-4 in Pac-10) were down as many as 16
points at the midpoint of the second half, but came storming back
to make the finish nothing less than exhilarating. Thanks to the
Bruin full-court press, and Kisa Hughes’ 21 second-half points,
UCLA found itself down by only four points with one minute left in
regulation.
Then, with 26 seconds left, Tawana Grimes was fouled as she was
driving to the goal and went to the line for two critical free
throws. Grimes missed the first but made the second, making the
score 62-59.
After a time-out, the Bruins tried desperately to get a steal.
With precious seconds running off the clock, the Bruins picked up
four quick fouls instead. At the 12 second mark, however, their
effort finally paid off as Nikki Hilbert stole the ball. She then
made a quick dish to Grimes who converted an uncontested lay up.
The score was 62-61, and that was as close as the Bruins had been
since 11:45 in the first half.
However, Arizona (8-9, 3-2) was still in the driver seat, with
the possession and a one-point lead with 12 seconds to go.
UCLA guard-forward Aisha Veasley reached in and fouled Arizona’s
DeAngela Minter with nine seconds remaining on the clock. It seemed
like a sensible foul to the UCLA coaching staff, since Minter came
into the game making only 39 percent of her free throw.
But the freshman guard rose to the occasion and calmly sank the
front-end of the one-and-one. Minter then made the second, quieting
the large crowd of 1,148 at Pauley. The scoreboard showed 64-61,
but a glimmer of hope still remained for the Bruins. The nine
seconds on the clock gave the Bruins adequate time to go down the
court and shoot a three-pointer.
And that’s exactly what UCLA guard Ricarda Kuypers did, but her
shot bounced off the side of the rim as the buzzer went off. The
only thing left to do for the UCLA players and coaches was to
wonder what would have happened if the Bruins had made their charge
a little earlier.
"The loss is hard to take, because we didn’t really decide to
play until the last 10 minutes," UCLA head coach Kathy Olivier
said. "It obviously cost us (the game)."
With extreme quickness and a hard pressing defense, the Wildcats
got off to an early lead. UCLA’s Hughes was limited to just four
points and five rebounds, and as the Bruins made only nine shots in
30 tries in the first half.
Wildcats’ scoring was led by Jacinda Sweet, who finished with 17
points. Freshman Adia Barnes added 16 points and six rebounds.