Midway through the first half, in the midst of UCLA’s
83-75 win over Washington, senior guard Lisa Willis bounce-passed
the ball to junior forward Amanda Livingston.
Willis had intercepted a pass, driven across the floor and
gingerly laid the ball into her teammate’s hands on the
baseline for what appeared to be an easy layup. But Livingston
looked up for a brief moment, and the ball glanced off her
fingertips and dribbled out of bounds.
Willis intently glared at Livingston for what seemed like an
eternity. Then Willis wiped the driblets of sweat across her
forehead, and turned away.
It didn’t matter that the Bruins (15-9, 10-5 Pac-10) were
rolling to a solid victory over the Huskies (16-7, 9-5) that
catapulted them up the conference standings.
It didn’t matter that the Bruins are on the verge of
conquering what seemed like an insurmountable hill to climb only
two weeks ago.
With only three conference games left before the Pac-10
tournament, time is of the essence and wins are at a premium. Not
only has losing become unacceptable, but anything resembling
mediocrity has been singled out and stared down.
“We played at a phenomenal level to start the game, but
the second half we got sloppy,” UCLA coach Kathy Olivier
said. “We can’t be satisfied with just winning, we have
to play at our best all the time.”
So while UCLA won its fifth game in the last six and tenth
consecutive home game, a sluggish second half that slowed down the
team’s momentum was troubling.
“When we start actually making our free throws and cutting
down on our turnovers we might be unbeatable,” Olivier
said.
The Bruins took a commanding lead in the first half with a 14-2
run that was only stopped by the pass that slipped through
Livingston’s hands. They ended the half with a 12-4 run in
the final four minutes and took a 44-31 lead into the locker room
at halftime. In the second half, the Bruins’ lead was never
cut to anything less than eight.
The guard trio of Noelle Quinn, Nikki Blue, and Willis took UCLA
on its back. Quinn, who is garnering All-American hype with each
passing performance, finished just shy of her first triple-double
of the season with 23 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds.
Willis scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, while Blue had
11 points and six assists.
What has defined the late season surge is the triple
threat’s ability to spread the ball around and elevate the
play of Livingston and sophomore forward Lindsey Pluimer.
“The three of them are really playing their best ball of
the year at the same time, and doing a tremendous job of keeping
everyone involved,” Olivier said. “It has clicked right
when we needed it.”
The guards were able to consistently set up the halfcourt
offense and keep feeding the ball to their forwards under the
basket. Pluimer was the beneficiary all afternoon, finishing with
15 points and 12 rebounds.
“There’s something to be playing for at the end of
the season,” Quinn said. “I feel good physically and
this is the time to be playing my best basketball.”
“We are definitely rolling right now. We just have to keep
it going and not think about how well we are playing, because
that’s when things can slow down a little bit.”
The Bruins might want to put the blinders on and keep up the
fast pace, but the schedule is going to slow them down regardless.
They have a full week off until Saturday’s matchup with
USC.
It’s a game with further postseason implications, as the
Bruins could be in second place with a win or as low as fifth place
with a loss before traveling to the Oregon schools to complete the
regular season.
Right now, the team is cautiously optimistic.
“This was very big,” Blue said. “Getting this
win out of the way sets us up well for next week against USC.
Coming on strong at the end is what’s going to get us in the
NCAAs,” Blue said.