W. Basketball Friday, 5 p.m. v. Delaware State
Albuquerque, N.M.
With another double-double by Noelle Quinn, the women’s
basketball team survived a scare at UC Irvine on Monday, holding on
for a 66-62 win at the Bren Events Center. Despite not sinking a
basket from the floor during the final eight minutes of the game,
the Bruins (5-4) sank their free throws when they needed them and
used 27 points from the bench to put together their first
back-to-back wins of the season. “We (have) got to get in
some kind of rhythm and get the feel of being a winning
team,” coach Kathy Olivier said. “Two back-to-back wins
on the road is a big step for us.” The Bruins took a close
35-32 lead into the half and came out firing after the break,
pushing the lead to 14 with only eight minutes to go. Then the UCLA
offense stopped. Irvine went on a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to
four, then capitalized on Bruin turnovers to cut it to three with
only 1:34 to play. The Anteaters misfired on a couple of late
possessions, and the Bruins hit just enough free throws to seal the
game. “Any time you’re on the road, things get a little
shaky,” Olivier said. “You have to keep your composure
and I thought our team did a very good job of that. … It was just
a different mood in the team. It wasn’t like a panic, and I
think that’s going to make a difference for us. … It was
never a situation where we thought we were going to lose.”
Defense was a big part of Monday’s win, as the Bruins held
the Anteaters to 30.6-percent shooting from the floor. “We
were on a roll,” Olivier said. “We just always had
control of the game. We played a little more aggressive
defensively. We did give up some easy shots, but we’ve been
adjusting and we’re getting used to that now. It’s more
of a confident feeling, so if we can keep that up, it would be
huge.” UCLA’s bench also came up big, contributing
almost half of the team’s total points and adding more
defensive intensity. Olivier credited Julia Pitts with adding
another dimension on defense in her 14 minutes and Shaina Zaidi
with going 3-6 from beyond the arc as part of the overall effort
from the non-starters.
NOTES: Senior guard Quinn led all players with
21 points and also racked up 10 boards. Three Bruins had
double-digit rebounds: Quinn, Lindsey Pluimer with 12 and Chinyere
Ibekwe with 11. … UCLA had 23 turnovers to Irvine’s 12, but
the Bruins scored 23 points off turnovers while the Anteaters only
managed 15. … UCLA will travel to the University of New Mexico to
kick off the Lobo Classic on Friday against Delaware State
(2-3).