Jasmine Dixon came up a bit gimpy after being on the receiving end of a flagrant foul in a game against Arizona State on Thursday, but the junior All-Pac-10 performer was more than coherent during UCLA’s 70-60 win over Arizona Saturday at Pauley Pavilion.
Dixon went for 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the first half and finished with 22 points and nine rebounds on the day, dominating an overmatched Wildcat front court.
Early on, Arizona tried pushing the tempo to avoid the UCLA press and attempted to force turnovers with its own version of the full-court trap. It paid dividends in the first half, as the Wildcats started the game shooting 6-of-8 from the field to take a 15-9 advantage.
But thanks to a 26-8 rebounding edge in the first period, as well as a few careless Arizona traveling violations, UCLA simply turned the tables.
During one play, redshirt sophomore forward Atonye Nyingifa pushed the ball down the court off of a missed Wildcat jumper, feeding it to senior forward Christina Nzekwe on the left block, who immediately whipped a touch pass into the left corner where Darxia Morris buried a 17-footer to even the score at 15.
The following possession, UCLA forced a shot clock violation on the defensive efforts of Nyingifa, who flew from sideline to sideline in hounding the ball. The Bruins eventually gained and then stretch the lead to six and held the Wildcats scoreless for the next five minutes.
The Bruins opened the second half on a 9-2 run, capped off by a Morris baseline jumper to push the lead to 47-26.
Yet the Wildcats refused to relinquish. Off a hard-slashing performance from senior forward Ify Ibekwe, Arizona pulled within seven points with three minutes remaining.
But Dixon answered with a bucket on the other end to give the Bruins a nine-point cushion.
UCLA would not look back, and with the win, the Bruins (18-2, 8-1 Pac-10) equaled their best start since the 1980-1981 season, while Arizona fell to 13-7 overall and 4-5 in conference play.