It took all of one home game for Nikki Blue to give notice that
she is as good as advertised.
Making her regular season debut at Pauley Pavilion, the vaunted
freshman poured in 24 points, all in the second half, as the UCLA
women’s basketball team rallied from a nine-point halftime
deficit to defeat St. Mary’s on Tuesday night 72-60.
“In the first half, my body felt tired,” said Blue,
who also tallied six rebounds and three steals against the Gaels.
“But I knew if I didn’t step up, I’d be on the
bench.”
After an emotional victory against UNLV on Sunday, the Bruins
(4-1) were wary of being complacent against St. Mary’s, yet
the entire squad appeared listless early in the game. UCLA shot
28.1 percent from the field in the first half and missed all six of
their three pointers as the Gaels stretched their halftime lead to
32-23.
An 8-2 burst coming out of the locker room got the Bruins back
into the game and paved the way for Blue’s heroics. After
missing all three of her first-half shots, Blue went nine-of-11
from the field after halftime and scored UCLA’s final nine
points of the game.
“Nikki was in a zone out there,” UCLA head coach
Kathy Olivier said. “She picked up her on-ball defense, and
that really sparked the rest of the team. She knew she had to pick
up her game to stay in there.”
Earlier in the game, Olivier was unhappy with the lack of
intensity displayed by Blue and the rest of the starters. As the
Bruin deficit slowly mounted, Olivier emptied her bench to find an
effective combination, as 14 different Bruins saw action in the
first half.
Even All-American candidate Michelle Greco struggled to find
open looks at the basket as the Gaels perimeter defense hounded her
all night. Greco finished with just nine points on three-of-10
shooting, well below her season average of 21.
“Michelle had been on a roll running down the floor and
getting shots off of screens, and they took that away from
her,” Olivier said. “They had two or three people
running at her every time she touched the ball.”
With Greco a non-factor offensively, it was Blue who played like
the senior. She repeatedly called for the ball down the stretch,
attacking the basket and penetrating the St. Mary’s defense
at will.
“Once we got pumped up and started running, that is when
we got on a roll,” Blue said. “I think that really
changed the whole game.”