It was a game in which one team put up a season-high point total and never let go of its lead, while its opponent posted a season-low tally and a dismal first-half performance.
Sounds like a near-flawless display on the winning team’s behalf.
But that was not the case as the UCLA women’s basketball team got an array of mixed messages about its game en route to an 87-57 victory over Oregon in Pauley Pavilion on Saturday.
After imposing their will on the Ducks (11-6, 2-4 Pac-10) in the first half and securing a 45-18 advantage at halftime, the No. 10 Bruins’ (15-1, 5-0) trademark air-tight defense suddenly lost its grip.
The Ducks, who lead the Pac-10 in scoring, came out and turned things around and scored 39 second-half points, shooting an effective 48 percent from the field. It was the most second-half points given up by the Bruin defense in its last six games, five of which were wins.
The sudden offensive jolt from the Ducks could be attributed to the fact that coach Nikki Caldwell emptied her bench once the second half got going, but it was still an eye opener for a team that prides itself on defense.
“I’m not happy with our defensive effort as far as the second half is concerned; I thought we broke down in too many areas in our transition game,” Caldwell said.
The Ducks came out intent on getting the ball to the paint and running their offense from there. In the second half, junior guard Nia Jackson, who had five assists, fed an Oregon frontcourt that capitalized against the smaller UCLA lineup. The Bruins still managed to outscore the Ducks in the paint, 30-26, but it looked more like a regression considering UCLA’s recent dominance down low against the likes of USC and Washington State.
Even though the bench’s defensive efforts left something to be desired, UCLA’s offensive attack was running on full steam. A majority of the scoring came from the perimeter, where senior guards Darxia Morris and Doreena Campbell set the tone early, knocking down mid-range jumpers from all over the court on the way to scoring 12 and 13 points, respectively.
“A lot of (our offense) was attributed to our defense, us getting steals. … It helped us with our transition game, so we didn’t have to rely so much on our set offense,” Campbell said. The Bruins forced 31 turnovers and had the Ducks looking like they were going to walk back home to Eugene after all of the traveling violations they committed as a result of UCLA’s pressure.
With a pivotal road game against Stanford now looming on the horizon, the Bruins seemed to leave Saturday’s game with mixed emotions regarding their play and how they finish games.
“I think we could have done a little bit better,” sophomore forward Atonye Nyingifa said. “We’ll take the win but we know that we missed a couple of assignments, and we’re only going to learn from this game and just get better.”