Trailing by six points at halftime to Washington State, a team
that occupies the basement in the Pac-10 standings, UCLA
women’s basketball coach Kathy Olivier walked off the court,
disappointment written all over her face, contemplating what to
tell her team.
“We had a little discussion at halftime, I’ll say
that,” Olivier said. “I had a few words.”
Those choice words appeared to have an immediate effect, as the
Bruins sprinted out of the half on a 15-4 run to regain the lead
and outlast the Cougars 68-63 Sunday afternoon at Pauley
Pavilion.
The win, UCLA’s third straight conference victory, brought
the Bruins (15-7, 9-4 Pac-10) one step closer to earning an NCAA
Tournament berth.
“That would have hurt us for the tournament if we had
dropped that one,” said junior Lisa Willis, who tallied 16
points along with a team-high 10 rebounds and six steals.
“Washington State’s a good team, but we
couldn’t lose to them.”
But the weekend sweep of the Washington schools may have masked
some serious flaws in UCLA’s recent games. Though Olivier was
content with the Bruins protecting their home court, she knows they
have to improve in a few key areas, especially with a daunting
schedule staring her team in the face to wrap up the regular
season.
On Sunday, the key area in which the Bruins faltered was on the
boards.
The Cougars (5-17, 1-12), who had lost 13 of their last 14 games
coming into Pauley Pavilion, dominated UCLA on the glass,
out-rebounding the Bruins 50-38. Repeatedly sending multiple
players to crash the offensive boards, Washington State outhustled
and outfought UCLA for the ball, leading to 13 second-chance points
which kept the Cougars within striking distance to the bitter
end.
“We need, need to get better on the boards,” Olivier
said. “We seem to do a good job of blocking ourselves
out.”
But despite the discrepancy on the boards and the fact they only
shot 35 percent for the game, the Bruins still found a way to grab
the much-needed victory, largely behind the second-half
performances of Willis and junior Nikki Blue.
Though it was Willis’ turnaround 10-foot jumper with two
minutes left that gave UCLA a four-point lead, it was Blue taking
more of the offensive burden that put the Bruins in position to
win.
Blue, who played all 40 minutes, finished with a game-high 22
points and seven assists, found a way to get to the free-throw line
(10 for 12) seven more times than the entire Cougar team (4 for
5).
And while they may not have played their best basketball during
their recent winning streak, the Bruins are still on cruise control
for their ultimate goal: steering clear of any embarrassing losses
to keep their tournament resume unblemished.
“We convinced ourselves that we’re not going to have
a bad loss,” said Willis, whose Bruins still have not dropped
a game to a team with a losing record.