W. basketball defeats Sun Devils, faces Arizona Saturday
By Emmanuelle Ejercito
Continuing its domination over Arizona State , the UCLA women’s
basketball team handily defeated the Sun Devils, 84-74, Thursday
night.
For the third consecutive game, junior Nickey Hilbert set a
career high with 33 points. Nine of those points came from behind
the three-point arc, as she was perfect from beyond the line.
The Bruins (8-6 overall, 3-2 Pacific 10) led by as many as 20
points after Hilbert stole an inbound pass and took it to the hole
for a reverse layup with 17:23 left in the game.
But when UCLA began to turn over the ball in the middle on the
second half, the Sun Devils crept back into the game and with 8:45
remaining trailed by only seven points.
But the Bruins responded with their own eight-point run to seal
the game and ASU continued its 15- game Pac-10 skid.
"It was a quicker game than I thought it would be," UCLA head
coach Kathy Olivier said. "When teams trap it is a quicker game and
that was to our advantage."
UCLA will face a tougher challenge this weekend when Arizona
steps on the court.
Buoyed by 1995 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year Adia Barnes and point
guard Brenda Pantoja, the Wildcats are rebounding from a losing
1994-95 season and a seventh-place finish in the Pac-10.
Halfway through the season, the Wildcats (11-1, 2-1 at press
time) head into Pauley Pavilion Saturday afternoon having already
matched their win-total from last year.
Arizona leads the Pac-10 in eight categories. The Wildcats
average a Pac-10 high 81.8 points per game while allowing opponents
a conference-low 57.8 points. Arizona also leads the Pac-10 in
field goal percentage (49.3),three-point shooting (38.8), turnover
margin (6.1), scoring margin (24.0), assists average (21.7) and
steals (15.8).
"They are a good team," Olivier said. "We are going to have to
stop their seniors, make sure they don’t get into a running game
and stop their transition."
The most interesting match-up of the day will pit a veteran
point guard against a budding freshman.
UCLA’s freshman point guard Erica Gomez, who had nine assists
against ASU, will face a tough counterpart in Pantoja. The
5-foot-8-inch senior leads the nation in assists, averaging 10 per
game. Pantoja recently broke the school record for career assists
on Jan. 13 against rival Arizona State. She is currently third on
the All-time Pac-10 list.
"I think that it will be a good battle," Olivier said. "We have
played tougher teams than (Arizona), so I would think that Gomez
will win out in the battle.
"I think Gomez will have to make the smart pass. She’s got to be
conservative. It’s going to be a big night."
The Bruins will also have to find a way to contain Barnes, who
leads Arizona with 16.3 points and 8.5 rebounds.
ANDREW SCHOLER/Daily Bruin
Nickey Hilbert set a new career high for the third consecutive
game, with 33 points.