Coming off one of their most emotional weeks of the season, the
women’s basketball team just wanted a simple win heading into
Sunday’s matchup against the Oregon Ducks.
After a bad loss to Oregon State on Friday and the announcement
that freshman Amy Horton will transfer out of UCLA, the squad was
ready for a victory to lift its spirits.
With an inspired 77-70 win over the Ducks, the Bruins (9-9, 3-3
Pac-10) did just that and are back up to .500 with a little
momentum before Saturday’s game against USC.
A big part of their win was only turning the ball over a
season-low six times, including never in the second half.
“I was very impressed that we did not turn the ball over
in the second half,” coach Kathy Olivier said. “To be
honest, I think our team was embarrassed about what happened
against Oregon State. We talked about being a Bruin and how we have
to play together and play smarter. The girls were very receptive
and they focused and it paid off.”
This focus was evident as the Bruins came back from deficits
many times and did not allow the Ducks back in the game, hitting
clutch free throws in the waning moments.
The game started off as the Carolyn Ganes show, with the Oregon
center dropping 10 points in the first 6:25 of play. The Bruins
held her to only five points the rest of the half but trailed 37-31
at halftime.
After the break, UCLA came out angry.
The Bruins scored on their first four possessions and grabbed a
54-53 lead with 10:02 remaining, a lead they would not relinquish.
This was in no small part due to the play of Amanda Livingston, who
pulled down all eight of her rebounds in the second half, including
five on offense.
“I just wanted to win,” Livingston said. “I
don’t think I had any rebounds in the first half. I was
pissed about that. I made a conscious effort to try and crash the
boards more.”
Livingston had 18 points, behind only Lindsey Pluimer and Noelle
Quinn who each had 21, but her impact on the court was more than
the numbers show.
“Amanda’s about good energy,” Olivier said,
“and about doing whatever she needs to do to get that
W.”
Late in the game, Livingston took an especially hard foul while
setting a screen and was dropped to the floor. As the game was
getting more and more physical, a negative reaction would have been
expected. But Livingston got up and smiled as if she knew that
frustration was taking over for the Ducks.
The Bruins sank 21 of 29 free throws to ice the game as the
Ducks kept fouling late. UCLA held them off as Quinn put the game
out of reach with 14 seconds left.
The Bruins’ defense did not let Oregon hit any critical
baskets down the stretch and forced several low-percentage shots to
stay in the lead.
“I think today was about defense,” Olivier said.
“I thought we did a very good job defensively and our defense
sparked what we did on offense.”