At halftime, the fans at Pauley Pavilion would have been excused for scratching their heads in disbelief. Just days before, the UCLA women’s basketball team had stormed its way to an easy win against USC. On Thursday night, they came out a step slower.
But only for 20 minutes.
The Bruins caught fire in the second half, using defensive pressure, traps and timely shooting to roll past the University of Washington, 73-55.
With the win, UCLA improved to 10-3 in the conference, further strengthening its hold on second place.
“I thought we played much more inspired in the second half,” UCLA coach Nikki Caldwell said following the win. “This team has got to decide: Are we going to have letdowns, or are we going to rise to the occasion?”
The answer was clear at the final buzzer.
After spending the first half working out the offensive kinks and the Husky zone, the Bruins dashed their way to a dominating second half, using a 23-4 run to put the game out of reach for the overmatched visitors.
The Bruins asserted their authority in the paint, feeding sophomore Jasmine Dixon for a series of close-range buckets and layups. Dixon finished the night with 17 points. Freshman Markel Walker put in another outstanding performance, totaling 19 points of her own.
“We came out unprepared,” Dixon said. “After the win over USC, we acted like we were going to just run over Washington. In the second half, we played a lot better team basketball instead of trying to do it all ourselves.”
The Bruins now turn to their next test: a home date with the Washington State Cougars. The team from Pullman currently occupies the Pac-10 cellar, but UCLA isn’t fooled by the sub-par record. In their previous matchup, the Cougars rallied to force a tense finish. The Bruins emerged victorious, but only just.
For UCLA, the focus will be on a producing a consistent, determined effort against one of the conference’s weaker squads.
But after the close call in Washington, junior forward Nina Earl knows that her team won’t be coasting to an easy win anytime soon.
“Every game, Coach preaches for us to play a 40-minute game,” Earl said. “We go out, and we have good spurts and do good things, but we don’t do that all the time. That’s what we’ve been working on.”
Saturday is the annual Pink Zone game, intended to promote breast cancer awareness. Fans in attendance are encouraged to wear pink. The game tips off at 4 p.m.