From the start, this didn’t feel like a typical night at Pauley Pavilion.
Outside the arena, a number of blue and gold-clad fans lined up for admittance into the women’s basketball game Wednesday night. They came to cheer and shout ““ for Cal State Bakersfield.
But for the UCLA women’s basketball team, the game turned into a typical home victory.
The healthy contingent of Roadrunner fans, who bused down from Bakersfield for the game, could do nothing to help their team stop the Bruin offense, which put on a second consecutive impressive performance in a 104-57 rout. With the win, the Bruins improved to 4-0 on the year at home and 5-1 overall.
UCLA pulled away from the Roadrunners (3-3) immediately and held a comfortable 22-point advantage by the half. The Bruins topped the century mark for the first time since defeating Cal Poly 107-83 a year ago.
UCLA played in front of perhaps its largest crowd this season. The fans in attendance witnessed an impressive display by an improving UCLA squad. Doreena Campbell and Christina Nzekwe scored a team-high 13 points to lead the Bruins, while freshman Rebekah Gardner pitched in 12.
“We’re making those good passes right now,” Campbell said. “Not many teams are going to beat us if all 12 players score points. We just need to hold them down defensively.”
It was the usual combination of steady defense and dominant rebounding that shut down the Roadrunners. UCLA players were constantly diving to the floor for loose balls, shoving their way into position for box-outs and tipping errant passes to create turnovers. Entering Wednesday night, UCLA ranked first in the country in rebounding margin, outrebounding opponents by an average of 18.4 rebounds per game. The Bruins out-rebounded the Roadrunners, 54 to 25.
“We don’t run any specific rebounding drills,” coach Nikki Caldwell said. “Our players just take it as a personal challenge to out-rebound the other team. That’s what we’ve been doing.”
While Caldwell’s team did almost everything right Wednesday night, there were occasions when Bakersfield successfully broke through UCLA’s press for easy layups. Once in the half-court set however, UCLA locked down and the Bruins caused 31 turnovers.
“Our coaches made an emphasis on assists today,” Gardner said. “We just came out here playing well as a team.”
Up next for UCLA is a Sunday home contest with the Nevada Wolfpack, a team that is coming off a stunning home upset of No. 7 Louisville.