With a Thanksgiving weekend trip to Hawaii, the women’s
basketball team looked to capitalize on more than just the weather,
as the Bruins hoped to make a deep run in the Hawaiian Airlines
Rainbow Wahine Classic.
However, No. 21 UCLA (3-4) came out of Honolulu with one win and
two losses, all against unranked opponents.
The Bruins lost against Gonzaga on Friday, beat Sacramento State
on Saturday in a consolation game, then lost Sunday against Texas
Tech.
UCLA kicked off the tournament on Friday against Gonzaga (5-2),
but despite a career performance by Chinyere Ibekwe, the Bruins
could not overcome an early deficit, losing 62-57.
“Gonzaga played a lot of zone early and we just
couldn’t get into a flow,” coach Kathy Olivier
said.
UCLA fell to a 29-17 hole by halftime as the Bruins shot only 25
percent from the floor and turned the ball over 14 times.
“They were capitalizing on our turnovers and got some easy
transition baskets,” Olivier said.
UCLA came out in the second half and fired back. The Bruins
pulled within one point at about the 12-minute mark and again with
about four minutes remaining, but couldn’t get over the
hump.
The Bulldogs limited the Bruins’ leader Noelle Quinn to
only one point and 0-of-8 shooting from the floor.
“Noelle’s doing so many things for this team,”
Olivier said. “She never got a clean look. We didn’t do
a great job of having people step up.”
In Quinn’s offensive absence, the sophomore Ibekwe shined,
contributing 21 points and 11 rebounds in 29 minutes.
On Saturday, the Bruins dominated the Sacramento State Hornets,
87-64, led by Lindsey Pluimer’s career-high 27 points. UCLA
had four players in double figures, including a double-double by
Quinn.
“We finally got into a flow and really got after
it,” Olivier said. “We were really working
hard.”
Yesterday, the Bruins dropped the fifth-place game to Texas
Tech, 75-60, despite Quinn’s 16 points and nine assists.
“(Texas Tech) played a good game and they took care of the
basketball,” Olivier said.
After the three-day tournament, the Bruins are looking to
improve on the defensive side of the ball.
“Our defense makes us go,” Olivier said.
“We’ll just continue to work on the little
things.”