Jasmine Dixon was out with concussion-like symptoms, and the UCLA women’s basketball team needed to fill a considerable void inside.
The junior forward is on multiple award watch lists, including one for the Naismith National Player of the Year, and leads the team in scoring and rebounding.
The challenge began Friday on the road against Loyola Marymount (4-4), and the Bruins faced a tough one, as their lead dwindled to just one point in the second half.
It took a 10-point run for the No. 13 Bruins (7-0) to pull away for a 67-43 victory against a Lions squad hampered by injuries.
A similar run was needed to put away an outmatched Montana State team Sunday, which had a particular affinity for turning the ball over.
Not that the Bruins were completely guilt-free of turnovers. Thirteen UCLA first-half turnovers kept Montana State (2-7) within 10 points throughout much of the first 20 minutes of play, but the Bruins were able to pull out perhaps their least aesthetically pleasing victory of the season, 54-44.
“We lacked a lot of intensity,” redshirt sophomore forward Atonye Nyingifa said. “It started in the warm-ups. The intensity, the way we usually pump ourselves, it just wasn’t there. Our energy from LMU just two days ago ““ it wasn’t here today.”
Yet again, the Bruins showed sporadic signs of brilliance. With 26 seconds left in the first half, senior guard Darxia Morris ran circles around the Bobcat defense on the right side of the floor, then whipped a pass to a cutting senior forward Christina Nzekwe under the basket for an and-one layup.
The basket inspired an intense defensive possession before intermission, and with the Bruins coming out of halftime having scored eight unanswered points, it seemed as if coach Nikki Caldwell’s crew was finally in control. The Bobcats, however, were able to keep it close.
The Bruins rarely took a timeout, not even when the Bobcats were able to cut a 15-point deficit to just six with only four minutes remaining.
“We are not in control as coaches,” Caldwell said. “They’re in control of everything. They need to figure out if they are going to compete, how to get themselves in a position to win because if it’s left up to us, we wouldn’t be in that situation.”
Freshman center Corinne Costa and freshman guard Thea Lemberger got valuable situational experience down the stretch as the Bruins were able to limp out with a victory.
After turning the ball over on consecutive possessions in the first half, Costa showed her touch around the rim in the second period, scoring on low-post feeds on both sides of the basket en route to six points and eight boards.
“I got more comfortable getting deeper into the game today,” Costa said. “I was just flustered in the first half, and got more comfortable in the second half.”
With the victory, the Bruins go to 7-0, their best start since the 1980-1981 season, when UCLA began the season winning 12 straight.
This Saturday the Bruins will head down the road to Saint Mary’s (5-4), which has already notched quality wins against Wisconsin and Washington State.