Prior to this Sunday, senior center Chinyere Ibekwe had never felt the taste of victory against USC on her home court during conference play.
The UCLA women’s basketball team had beaten USC both on the road and in the postseason, but had not seen a regular season win against USC at Pauley Pavilion since 2004.
Ibekwe and the rest of the Bruins broke that streak this weekend as the Bruins defeated the Trojans 87-75.
“I’m a senior and this is something that I have never done ““ beating ‘SC at home in conference play,” Ibekwe said. “It feels good. When you play teams like USC, you play with fire.”
In coach Nikki Caldwell’s first look at the UCLA-USC rivalry, she was impressed with the Bruins’ second half efforts. After a dismal first half in which the Bruins shot just 13-for-43 from the field, the flow of the game started to favor UCLA’s offense in both rebounding and shooting.
UCLA’s rebounding gave the Bruins a large advantage over USC. Ibekwe contributed 10 of the Bruins 55 total rebounds, while the Trojans finished with just 38.
“We challenged our guard and our postgame to control the boards,” Caldwell said. “When we do get a rebound, we like to push tempo.”
Because the Bruins only shot around 37 percent for throughout the entire game, a strong rebounding performance became a necessity if the Bruins were going to get a win.
Most importantly, UCLA had 23 offensive rebounds ““ giving them the second-chance points they needed.
“I think the key to the game was offensive rebounds on the part of the game,” USC coach Mark Trakh said. “They did a great job; they had a lot of heart, they just pounded the boards very, very hard.”
While the Bruins’ shooting may have been less than perfect throughout the game, UCLA’s offense eventually came through midway into the second half. After the Trojans closed the Bruins’ 6-point halftime lead, the two teams seesawed back and forth with several lead changes down the stretch of the contest.
Down 55-58, freshman guard Rebekah Gardner hit at 3-point shot to tie the game and start a 17-2 scoring run.
Gardner was not the only Bruin freshman to contribute to the streak, as forward Atonye Nyingifa hit two jumpers within that period.
The Bruins’ leading scorer of the game with 20 points total, sophomore guard Doreena Campbell, added 8 points as well.
Senior guard Tierra Henderson was noticeably back in the line up for the Bruins after serving a team suspension for an undisclosed violation. Junior guard Allison Taka, who saw action during Henderson’s absence, continued to play minutes which she used to gain momentum for the team as a fan favorite.
“Taka is a spark,” Campbell said. “She just comes in and she’s like, “˜I’ll give it my all.’ I think she has been having a lot of fun this year.”
According to Caldwell, the Bruins are happy to come away with a win in the first rivalry match of the season, but they will not take the next month’s rematch lightly. The Bruins play USC again on Feb. 8 on the Galen Center when they begin their second round of Pac-10 play.
“Any rivalry is great for women’s basketball,” Caldwell said. “‘SC is a phenomenal team.
“Tonight was just a great battle between two ball clubs.”