In front of the fourth-largest home crowd in UCLA women’s basketball history, and on a day that honored the 1978 national championship squad, the Bruins delivered a record-setting performance.
Only this was one record they could have done without.
Facing their crosstown rival, UCLA came out as flat as a broken tire, unable to capture any tread as the Trojans suffocated the Bruins defensively. It all added up to a humiliating 49-36 defeat at the hands of USC on Sunday. The 36 points tied the school record for fewest points in a game, and the Bruins shot just 22.8 percent for the game, including a futile 12.9 percent in the first half.
“Any time you are playing your rival, you want to win in the worst way,” coach Kathy Olivier said after the loss. “We never got things going.”
The loss marks the seventh in a row to the Trojans, who pulled ahead of UCLA for fourth place in the conference.
“UCLA is a good team,” USC coach Mark Trakh said. “They’ll bounce back, and they’ve got some studs on that team.”
That vote of confidence did little to sooth the postgame woes for the Bruins, whose postseason bubble candidacy appears to have burst. While they sit in a respectable fifth in the conference, a 13-12 overall record means they will likely have to seize the Pac-10 Tournament crown for a shot at an NCAA bid.
In front of a packed crowd of over 8,000, about a third of which appeared to be USC-affiliated, the Bruins and Trojans played a game that could be described as exciting only by a connoisseur of defense. USC’s long arms and quick feet again proved too much for UCLA’s young guards, who were forced into a total of 20 turnovers. As the first-half buzzer sounded, a stunned Bruin squad entered the locker room with only 12 points to show for their effort.
“We worked very hard on our offense this week, so I’m surprised we didn’t score more,” Olivier said. “We were rushing things, and they kept us off our rhythm.”
Senior center Lindsey Pluimer, playing what could be her final game against the Trojans, was shadowed all game by a rotation of USC defenders and scored just six points on 3-of-7 shooting. No Bruin scored in double figures on the afternoon. Junior guard Tierra Henderson led the way with seven points.
“There was someone on me all the time, even in the zone,” a visibly disappointed Pluimer said. “There are a lot of things we could do better.”
After falling behind by 10 at the half, the Bruins scored the first four points in the second to cut the deficit to six, but they were unable to come any closer. During one sequence, an inbounds play was thrown over the scorer’s table, with the next Bruin possession resulting in an errant outlet pass that was intercepted and converted by Trojan guard Hailey Dunham. Both teams combined for 36 turnovers.
“We forced somebody else to beat us today. Pluimer is one of the best players in the conference, and we wanted someone else to beat us,” Trakh said.
Olivier and the Bruins are now faced with the difficult task of drawing a silver lining from one of the ugliest losses in program history.
Defensively, the Bruins held the Trojans to just 35 percent from the field and forced 16 turnovers, but they were unable to convert offensively.
“Right now, ‘SC has our number,” Olivier said. “We need to watch film and figure out what we need to do.”