The UCLA women’s basketball team’s 61-54 loss to
Purdue in the second round of the NCAA Tournament marked the end of
two of the most prolific careers the program has produced.
Senior guards Nikki Blue and Lisa Willis have donned the blue
and gold in a meaningful game for the last time. This will not be
the end of their playing days, as both are projected to be
first-round picks in the upcoming WNBA Draft. Both Blue and Willis
have said in recent weeks that the experience of college basketball
is not something that will be easily recaptured in the professional
ranks.
After losing to the Boilermakers and returning home to finish
the winter quarter, both players said they will need some time
before they can truly put their collegiate careers in
perspective.
“Unless we won the title, my last game was going to be a
loss,” said Willis, who averaged 17.9 points and 5.8 rebounds
per game her senior year. “Going into the tournament, I knew
it could all end quickly.”
Blue and Willis have approached the end of their Bruin careers
and graduation differently. Blue expressed bittersweet sentiments
about departing the school and her “little sisters” on
the basketball team.
Willis is not the least bit shy about admitting that while she
has “never regretted” coming to UCLA, she is excited to
embark on the next stage of her life.
After all the build-up and speculation, both players have
officially finished their respective careers. Blue stands as the
fifth-leading scorer in the history of UCLA women’s
basketball with 1,797 points. With five assists against Purdue,
Blue now joins Erica Gomez as the only Bruins with at least 600
assists. Blue has 602, behind only Gomez’s 697.
Willis has the ninth-most points in the school’s history
with 1,677 and has the most 3-point field goals with 256.
Both said they looked forward to the opportunity to play No. 1
seed North Carolina in the Sweet 16 on the national stage to
showcase their skills and the program they helped rebuild. But the
loss to Purdue came only two days after winning their first NCAA
Tournament game, which has taken some of the sting out of the
second-round loss.
“I regret nothing about this year,” said Blue, who
averaged 12.4 points and 5.9 assists per game in her last year in
Westwood. “I am so proud of the way we finished the year and
my career and I hold my head up high.”
TOURNAMENT REVELATION: Freshman center Chinyere
Ibekwe, who has seen her playing time this year steadily increase,
was on the court more often than starter Amanda Livingston in
UCLA’s final game. This is partly due to the fact that
Livingston got three first-half fouls and her minutes were limited
in the second half. Another reason is that Ibekwe has impressed the
UCLA coaching staff with her late season progress. Going up against
a Purdue team that was bigger and stronger than perhaps any team in
the Pac-10 team, Ibekwe posted six points and nine rebounds in 20
minutes of play.
Livingston, a junior power forward, will return next year; it is
uncertain how she and Ibekwe will split duties.
PAC-10 FADES AWAY: UCLA was not the only Pac-10
team to have second-half woes in the second round of the NCAA
Tournament.
In the Albuquerque Regional, No. 4 seed Arizona State was tied
with No. 5 seed Utah at 34-34 at the half in a game that would
decide who would advance to play the winner of Ohio State v. Boston
College.
The Sun Devils were outscored 52-31 in the second half and lost
to the Utes, 86-65. Meanwhile, Boston College upset No. 1 seed Ohio
State and moved on to the Sweet 16.
No. 9 seed Washington also couldn’t maintain its
first-half success against No. 1 seed LSU in the second-round game
out of the San Antonio Regional. The Huskies were leading the
heavily favored Tigers 26-23 at the half but were blown out by 26
points in the second half to lose with a final score of 72-49. LSU
will now play No. 4 DePaul in the Sweet 16.
THE FINAL TREE: No. 3 seed Stanford is the only
Pac-10 program that is still in the tournament. The Cardinal will
match up against the No. 2 seed Oklahoma Sooners and the powerful
Paris twins in what is a highly anticipated game.
The Pac-10, which had six of its teams received bids to the
tournament, has gone 6-5 through the first two rounds.