UCLA was the first school to reach 100 national championships, and in Tuesday night’s women’s basketball game, UCLA was the first team to reach 100 points.
The Bruins (3-0) faced an aggressive Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (2-2) team in a high-scoring event, beating the Mustangs 107-83.
Once again the freshmen had a strong presence in the game. The Bruins started freshmen guards Nina Earl and Doreena Campbell, as well as freshman center Regina Rogers. But much of UCLA’s 107 points can be attributed to freshman guard Darxia Morris, who came off the bench to score a game- and career-high 21 points. She also contributed to the defense with four steals.
“She ran the break really well and she got a lot of her points off of fast breaks,” senior forward Lindsey Pluimer said. “She likes to push the tempo, which is good for us.”
“My team helped me out a lot,” Morris said. “Passing the ball up, moving the ball up and transitioning a lot.”
The game started off fairly evenly, as the teams changed leads until the 14th minute when Cal Poly led 18-17. UCLA then went on a 7-0 run to take the 24-18 advantage and never gave up the lead. With 6:52 left in the first half, UCLA went up by 10 to take control of the game. The Bruins entered the second half up 52-40.
The Mustangs were able to go on a 5-0 scoring run toward the beginning of the second half to reduced UCLA’s lead down to nine. However, the Bruins’ hot-scoring night continued as their lead increased to as much as 26 points.
With 3:29 left in the game, junior guard Tierra Henderson ran a smooth layup to make the score 100-75. The 107-point total is the highest UCLA has finished with since Dec. 17, 1999, when the Bruins beat Cal State Fullerton 108-75.
The Bruins welcomed back junior center Chinyere Ibekwe, who finished serving a four-game suspension for violating team rules. Ibekwe came into the game in the 11th minute and finished with four points and six rebounds.
Every member of the team saw action in the game, including previously injured freshman guard Candice Brown. In her college debut, Brown scored two points and had three rebounds. Pluimer contributed 18 points and eight rebounds.
While the team had no trouble offensively on Tuesday night, the Bruins have continued to focus on their defense this year. The Bruins were not happy letting the Mustangs have a high-scoring night as well.
“Defense has really been our emphasis this year,” Pluimer said. “Tonight we were kind of disappointed in the fact that we let them score 80-something points. Our defense sparks our offense.”
The team faces a huge obstacle in its undefeated season this Sunday when the Bruins play No. 3 Maryland at Pauley Pavilion. Game time is 2 p.m.