SAN JOSE “”mdash; It’s a bitter case of déjà vu
that has turned into a recurring nightmare for the UCLA
women’s basketball team over the past four years.
Needing a win in the semifinals of the Pac-10 Tournament on
Sunday in San Jose to all but ensure an at-large bid into the NCAA
tournament, the Bruins did everything they could against top-seeded
Stanford.
But as time has shown, everything is not enough.
For the third straight year, Stanford (23-6, 14-4
Pac-10)eliminated UCLA (17-12, 11-7, Pac-10) from the Pac-10
Tournament, earning a hard-fought 70-66 victory at HP Pavilion that
now leaves the Bruins in the position they were in exactly one year
ago: in front of the television, waiting to see if their names are
called on Selection Sunday.
This time, UCLA doesn’t want to be left on the outside
looking in.
“I know there are a lot of similarities to last year, but
the difference is we’re playing very well at the end,”
UCLA coach Kathy Olivier said. “If they keep us out,
I’d be shocked if the Pac-10 doesn’t see three teams
in.”
With the win, Stanford extended their winning streak over UCLA
to 11 games, a dominant reign that stretches all the way back to
March 3, 2000.
“I have to come out of here not beating Stanford,”
said senior Whitney Jones, who has witnessed each of those 11
losses. “It’s hard. It’s a hole that hasn’t
been filled.”
For the Bruins, it was another case of climbing the mountain and
seeing the peak, only to lose their grasp and stumble at the
end.
Leading 45-34 with 15:15 remaining in the second half, UCLA
began to wither, and Stanford junior Kelley Suminski took
advantage.
With the Bruins employing a zone defense, Suminski found herself
open behind the arc and propelled a 15-4 Cardinal run by burying
three of her game-high five three-pointers, the last tying the game
at 49 apiece.
She may have also buried UCLA’s once-booming
confidence.
“Every team makes a run, and it was a matter of time until
we made ours,” said Suminski, who, along with teammate Nicole
Powell, had a team-high 18 points.
“They hit some big shots,” Olivier said. “That
kind of thing takes the wind out of your sails.”
The Bruins never fully recovered.
Feeding off the predominantly Stanford-backing crowd, the
Cardinal surged on, pushing their lead to eight during a parade to
the free-throw line in the final minutes. Stanford, the
Pac-10’s best free throw shooting team, went 11-of-13 from
the charity stripe in the final five minutes.Â
“If you send a team like that to the free throw line, they
are going to beat you,” Olivier said.Â
Sophomore guard Nikki Blue did her best to keep UCLA in the
game, finishing with a team-high 18 points and seven assists that
kept the Bruins temporarily afloat.
But with UCLA down by four with less than 30 seconds left,
Olivier decided to not commit the immediate foul, a decision that
cost the Bruins precious seconds they couldn’t afford to have
tick off the clock.Â
“My thought process went a bit wacky,” Olivier
said.
A Powell free throw with four seconds left all but sealed the
Bruins’ fate, which is now out of their hands.
Joining Blue as the only other Bruin in double figures was
freshman Noelle Quinn, who finished with 14 points, nine rebounds
and four assists. Sophomore Lisa Willis, the third member of
UCLA’s “Triple Threat,” struggled en route to
scoring just nine points on 4-of-11 shooting.
With the victory, Stanford advances to the championship game of
the Pac-10 tournament to face second-seed Arizona, who defeated
Washington 77-55 earlier in the day. The two teams split their
regular season contests.
“Through this season, we have demonstrated that we are the
two top teams (in the Pac-10),” said Powell in reference to
Stanford and Arizona.
“UCLA gave us as much as we can handle,” Stanford
coach Tara VanDerveer said. “We are really excited to be
playing in the championship game, and we have worked very hard to
get there.”
As for UCLA, it must now contemplate what might have been. While
letting another potential victory against Stanford slip through its
fingers is cause enough for sleepless nights, resigning its fate to
the NCAA Selection committee once again is a nightmarish scenario
come true.
So when the Bruins fall asleep tonight, it wouldn’t be
surprising if images of Powell, Suminski and the rest of their
Stanford teammates will continue to haunt them.