It was a sequence that pretty much summed up the UCLA women’s basketball 79-43 exhibition-game victory over the Vanguard Lions.
Halfway through the first period, Pac-10 performer Jasmine Dixon picked off the pass at midcourt, dribbled behind the back to elude a befuddled defender, and then breezed to the basket to finish an uncontested lay-up.
It would become a recurring instance throughout the game, but if there is one thing that the No. 16 UCLA women’s basketball team expects, it is to force turnovers.
And to score off of those.
The Bruins forced 29 turnovers against the Lions, and stymied the 2010 Golden State Athletic Conference co-champions into a 17 minute scoreless stretch after leading 17-13 at the 14-minute mark.
It was a scene that seven-time GSAC coach of the year Russ Davis could barely watch, his head in his palms the majority of the first half.
Davis would actually get to look up and even raise his hands in celebration a bit later, after Veronica Beavor broke the Lion’s scoreless draught, draining a three-pointer with 16:45 in the second half.
Vanguard did go 27-3 last season and were GSAC co-champions, but they couldn’t overcome UCLA’s size.
The Lions didn’t even attempt to contest the opening tip against 6-foot-4-inch UCLA forward Christina Nzekwe.
Not that there weren’t any flaws for the Bruins: Coach Nikki Caldwell was not pleased with her team’s performance.
“I think this team has got to decide that when they are preparing for games, they are preparing in a way that it is like their last game,” Caldwell said. “They have to play this game with a different type of focus, a different level of intensity, and always play for 40 minutes intense basketball.”
Offensively, multiple cross court passes were picked off easily, and there were more than a few unforced traveling violations. The Bruins had 21 turnovers, 13 in the first half alone.
Senior guard Darxia Morris, coming out of a very quiet locker room, listed the things the team needed to fix.
“We need to play the whole 40 minutes, and not play only the first half,” Morris said. “We need ball pressure 94 feet, we need ball pressure in the half court. We have to hit open shots, make lay-ups, and watch our turnovers.”
But Caldwell was more concerned with her team’s defense, which was lackadaisical at best.
“They take short corners in the game defensively,” she said. “We weren’t committed to defending the ball one on one, we weren’t committed to rotating our defense and getting out where we needed to. We didn’t play smart today.”
The Bruins were able to score on second chance opportunities off 30 offensive rebounds. Dixon grabbed 16 boards, while junior forward Rebekah Gardner had 13. That duo combined to help the Bruins to a 30-rebound advantage, with the team totaling 65 for the night.
As nice as it is to rack up rebounds, offensive boards mean missed shots, and in the first half of the game, the Bruins shot 36 percent from the field.
“We were a little discombobulated,” senior guard Doreena Campbell said.
The Bruins will have little time to figure things out before heading south to face a talented San Diego State team Friday that made it to the Sweet Sixteen last year.