UCLA women’s water polo’s largely second-half performances at the UC Irvine Invitational extended to the second half of the tournament itself, where the Bruins saw plenty of improvement.

UCLA picked up victories against UC San Diego (12-8) and UCI (7-6) on Saturday. On the strength of their second half performances, the Bruins won an offensive battle against the Tritons’ tight defense and escaped defeat against the host Anteaters on a go-ahead goal with four seconds to play. Coach Brandon Brooks said the Bruins’ performance early in the tournament left much to be desired.

“I think we played very horribly in the UCSD game. It was our worst game of the weekend by far,“ Brooks said. “We played slow, soft and tired. In the fourth game, we played faster and stronger. We played smart and overall together.”

Freshman center Alexa Tielmann was inserted into the lineup and finished with a team-high five goals total in the first two games.

“We didn’t have our starter center. … I stepped up along with the other center players,” Tielmann said. “I tried to have as many plays as possible.”

UCLA faced rival USC on Sunday. Playing another second-half game, the Bruins trailed by one at halftime before tying things up in the second half. However, with a chance to advance to the tournament final, the Bruins lost in the last two seconds.

“We always have this rivalry and it was fun, but to be honest we cannot depend on what is on their chest. We had to play our hardest regardless and give it our all,” said sophomore attacker Emily Donohoe.

Donohoe and freshman attacker Rachel Fattal led the team in scoring with three goals against USC. The team responded in its final game of the tournament with a 14-7 win over Arizona State.

“I think after that game we fought really hard – we lost by one, but it showed that we need to continue working and we came ready to play,” Donohoe said.

Brooks hopes the tournament can serve as a learning tool.

“The experience this weekend was good for us as a young (growing) team,” Brooks said.

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