An outstanding performance one night, a flat performance the next.
After producing one of their best efforts on Saturday against USC (17-13) in the Pac-10 women’s basketball tournament, the Bruins (16-15) could not keep the momentum going on Sunday as they fell to No. 6 Stanford (29-3) in the semifinal game.
Two seasons ago, UCLA took the conference title away from the Cardinal in the championship game. And earlier this season, the Bruins surprised everyone when they beat Stanford. But this time, the Cardinal made sure the Bruins did not get in their way, defeating UCLA, 78-45.
From the start, the Cardinal set the tone of the game and kept the lead for all 40 minutes. Stanford jumped out to a 19-8 lead after going on a 9-2 scoring run. The Cardinal defense held the Bruins to scoring just 16 points in the first half to make it 34-16 at halftime.
Stanford entered the second half with even more energy and scored the first six points and to widen the gap 40-16.
With 10 minutes remaining, Stanford led by 40 points at 65-25, ending the Bruins’ hopes for an NCAA Tournament berth. With the win, Stanford advances to the Pac-10 Tournament final for the seventh consecutive year.
“Stanford is a great team,” coach Kathy Olivier said. “They have a lot of talent and they have it going on in all cylinders.”
UCLA had a hard time keeping hold of the ball when on offense. The Bruins turned the ball over 23 times while Stanford tallied 15 steals.
In order to reach Stanford in the semifinals, UCLA first had to get past USC in the opening round of the tournament on Saturday night.
After an embarrassing home loss to USC back in February, the Bruins got the chance for redemption and soundly defeated their crosstown rival, 73-52.
UCLA took control of the game from the start and led by as many as 15 points in the first half. The Bruins went up 35-24 and found themselves in the uncommon position of being in the lead heading into the locker room.
“I reminded them that there was 20 more minutes left and that they’re our rivals, so they are not just going to lie down and die,” Oliver said.
After not scoring for almost four minutes to begin the second half and allowing USC to score six straight points, the Bruins regrouped and scored six points in a 1:10 time span, beginning with a layup from Darxia Morris. UCLA went up 41-30 and never let the Trojans get close.
Morris played a key role in the game, playing the most minutes since her knee injury. She came off the bench to shoot a game-high 19 points.
“The team was hyped and helped me, so I wasn’t thinking about my knee at the time,” Morris said. “I don’t know if I was 100 percent or not, but I felt like the old me.”
Without USC’s junior center Nadia Parker in the game due to an MCL tear, the Bruin defense capitalized on the Trojans, who shot just 25 percent in total field goal percentage in the first half.
UCLA forced USC to turn the ball over 29 times to win on the defensive end.
Junior guard Tierra Henderson and freshman forward Nina Earl contributed four steals each.
“We had a great defensive game going,” Olivier said. “We were very active, which caused them to turn the ball over a lot.”
With the season-ending loss to Stanford, UCLA looks ahead to next season, when it will lose its leading scorer, blocker and free-throw shooter in senior forward Lindsey Pluimer. However, the Bruins will return five starters and an experienced sophomore class, which has contributed 80 percent of the playing time this season.
“We have a very young team and show that at times we can play with anyone in the country,” Olivier said. “We just have to show that we can do that consistently. I think we are going to be a very good team next year.”