Just before the tipoff of the UCLA women’s basketball game
against Pepperdine on Friday, Noelle Quinn was arriving on the
scene.
The standout junior guard had finished a final exam only moments
before warm-ups, and she sprinted across campus to Pauley
Pavilion.
As her teammates were preparing for one of their final
non-conference games of the year, Quinn threw on her UCLA jersey
and tied up her shoelaces just as the No. 22 Bruins took the
floor.
She then proceeded to lead the scoring with 24 points in a
performance highlighted by alley-oops and no-look passes that got
the home crowd hollering.
It was that kind of an evening for UCLA in a seemingly
effortless 95-59 drubbing of the Pepperdine Waves.
“Those kind of wins are fun and they don’t come
around so often,” Bruin coach Kathy Olivier said.
“Everything was clicking for us and we were playing with a
lot of confidence.”
The Bruins played what Olivier characterized as a “very
loose game” fueled by their sheer physical dominance over the
Waves. Running the full court press that baffled its opponents,
UCLA forced key turnovers that resulted in easy transition
lay-ups.
After a number of games in which they played sluggishly in the
first half, the Bruins (5-3) rattled off an 8-0 run within the
opening minutes of the game against the Waves (1-6).
Playing with a comfortable cushion for most of the second half,
Quinn and senior guards Lisa Willis and Nikki Blue made a few
acrobatic plays that illustrated the relative ease of the win.
With 8:08 remaining in the game, Blue took the ball up court and
saw Quinn posting up her defender. Quinn’s eyes grew and she
gave Blue a slight head nod. After spinning around her defender,
Blue lobbed the ball near the rim and Quinn made the lay-up to
finish a dazzling alley-oop.
“Sometimes you have to give the fans some
excitement,” Quinn said, laughing. “The game was pretty
well in hand, and we were having a good time out there.
“The chemistry between me, Nikki and Lisa is so good right
now that we know exactly where each one will be and can play on
instincts.”
UCLA built a 46-25 lead at the half, and was able to give
significant playing time to role players as the starting five got a
chance to watch the game from the sidelines.
It didn’t appear to matter who was playing for UCLA, as
the second and even third unit outplayed the starting five of
Pepperdine.
While high-fiving teammates and her coach as the clock ticked
down, Quinn was able to sit back and reflect on a frenetic day of
finals and foul trouble that ended smoothly.
“I had a lot of fun watching my teammates come in off the
bench and make some plays, because they don’t always have the
chance to do it during a game,” Quinn said.
WILLIS ON A STREAK: Willis scored 20 points
while shooting 8-13 from the field. It was her fifth time this
season registering 20 or more points, and her 35th straight game
with at least 10 points.
OREN GIVEN A SCARE: With 2:31 remaining in the
second half and the game momentum on UCLA’s side, senior
guard Ortal Oren collided at half-court, fell awkwardly and injured
her neck. For precautionary measures, Oren was carted off the court
on a stretcher.
Oren, whose parents flew in from her native Israel to attend the
game, was released from the hospital later that night after tests
came back negative. Her availability for the upcoming games is
still questionable.