Team splits weekend games

It was a weekend of slow starts for the UCLA women’s basketball team. Unfortunately for the Bruins, one of those slow starts cost them a home victory. UCLA split a pair of weekend games, defeating Oregon State, 60-53, before being upset by Oregon, 73-56, on Sunday at Pauley Pavilion.

In the Pac-10 opener on Friday night, the Bruins got off to one of their slowest starts of the season, falling behind a hot-shooting Oregon State squad. UCLA struggled at the offensive end to get anything going against a Beaver defense that came in allowing the fewest points per game of any Pac-10 squad while leading the conference in scoring margin.

Despite the early struggles, UCLA fought back into each game. Against the Beavers, UCLA took a one-point lead into halftime and eventually stretched it to a comfortable margin, withstanding a late run by the visitors for the victory. It was Nikki Caldwell’s first conference win as a head coach.

“This is a really nice win for our team to move forward with,” Caldwell said after Friday night’s victory.

Sunday’s matchup with Oregon wasn’t much different than Friday, but the final result was. The Ducks raced out to a 20-11 lead with 8:34 left in the half. The young Oregon squad was aided by the hot outside shooting of guard Micaela Cocks, who hit two long-range shots to shut down UCLA’s first-half momentum. The Bruins also struggled defensively for much of the first half in transition, allowing some easy layups.

“I think our lack of intensity defensively really hurt us today,” Caldwell said. “They were the ones who were dictating the game, not us.”

In this game, that slow start ultimately cost the Bruins, who fell further behind in the second half, unable to crack Oregon’s pressure defense. After falling behind the Ducks, 44-33, coach Caldwell called a timeout. The Bruins came out with a successful full-court pressure against the inexperienced Ducks. The Bruins cut the deficit to three with an 8-0 run before Ducks answered with a bucket and a foul to put Oregon back up six. From that point, UCLA could not stem the tide of the Oregon momentum, struggling to make stops defensively while failing to convert offensively.

“I thought we had some easy looks,” Caldwell said. “Right now it’s been hit or miss with our perimeter game, hit or miss with our post game, to be honest. We just haven’t established that type of consistency yet.”

The Bruins were hard-pressed to contain the Ducks’ perimeter shooters. Oregon’s Jasmin Holliday nailed a crucial three-point shot to put the Ducks up 11 with 5:04 to go, essentially sealing the victory for the visitors.

“We can live (struggling against) a team that is jump-shooting, but we were getting beat on dribble penetration and in transition.” Caldwell said.

UCLA’s loss to the Ducks was a crucial blow for a UCLA team with their sights set on the postseason. To reach that goal, home wins in Pac-10 play are crucial. Many Bruin players understand the importance of protecting their home floor. Senior Erica Tukiainen has provided a spark for the Bruins and understands the importance of using Pauley Pavilion to the team’s advantage.

“Hopefully this becomes motivation for us,” Tukiainen said. “We can’t afford to play like this at home. Now our focus is that we have to take ownership of our defense. We will start practicing hard tomorrow and come back.”

With the weekend split, UCLA will look to boost their record at the start of the conference slate against cross-town rival USC on Sunday at Pauley Pavilion. The Trojans took two of the three contests against the Bruins a year ago, including a win in Westwood. The Bruins took the most recent contest, eliminating USC from the conference tournament with a 73-52 rout a season ago.

The Bruins insisted that they were not looking past the Ducks, however.

“I don’t think that was our problem,” Tukiainen said. “It was more our lack of focus.”

WINTER CONTESTS: At the same time that many students have been enjoying their winter breaks, the UCLA women’s basketball team was just getting into full swing. The Bruins grabbed one of their biggest victories of the season with a home win over the Kansas Jayhawks, 67-64, but lost a tough contest to Texas Tech, 72-62.

TAKA STEPS UP: Senior guard Tierra Henderson, one of the Bruins’ best on-ball defenders, has been out since the team’s contest with San Diego last month while serving an indefinite suspension for an undisclosed violation of team rules. Guards Allison Taka and Antonye Nyingifa have been seeing more time on the court in Henderson’s absence.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Taka said. “It was a little rocky at first, but it’s great to be back out on the court.”

Taka has become a fan favorite for the Bruins and a source of energy among her teammates.

“I give all of the credit to my coaches and teammates,” Taka said.

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