There wasn’t a single person sitting down in Pauley Pavilion as Nirra Fields walked up to the free throw line for three free throws.
Three free throws to tie up the game with virtually no time left on the clock. Three free throws to give UCLA the chance to beat its rival school from across town. Three free throws that would mean complete redemption for the sophomore guard.
And then Fields missed the very first one.
After two inconsequential free throws with 0.4 seconds left, UCLA women’s basketball fell to USC 56-54 on Monday night in both teams’ Pac-12 conference opener.
Right from the beginning, UCLA fought an uphill battle as Fields, the Pac-12 Player of the Week, went to the bench with two fouls three minutes into the game.
Soon, senior guard Thea Lemberger joined her on the pine with two fouls of her own. Despite losing their two starting guards, the Bruins used a 10-0 run to go up 15-6 over the Trojans.
But behind Ariya Crook’s 21 first half points, including scoring 15 straight points for the Trojans, USC came back to take a 32-27 lead going into halftime.
Even with Fields and Lemberger back in the second half, neither guard found her rhythm after sitting for such a prolonged time. The Bruins were able to keep pace with the Trojans behind six-year senior Atonye Nyingifa’s team-high 20 points and eight rebounds.
It wasn’t enough as UCLA just couldn’t take the lead, although it managed to tie up the game twice in the second half.
And when Lemberger fouled out with over two minutes in the game, the Bruins lost their senior leader and primary ball-handler.
Fields was there to try to bring the game home for the Bruins, even scoring five points in 11 seconds to bring UCLA to within one. But time after time, her shots just kept rimming off the basket, and she finished with 13 points on just 5-18 shooting.
Fields had two looks in the final 10 seconds on threes to tie up the game, but like that free throw, the ball just would not fall in the basket.
Compiled by Derrek Li, Bruin Sports reporter