It wasn’t a typical season opener for the UCLA
women’s basketball team.
Though they hadn’t played one second of an official game
this season, the Bruins carried a heavy weight on their shoulders
in their opener against UNLV. Win and start the season off on
the right foot, or lose and play national powerhouses Texas and
Illinois next week without a victory under their belt.
UCLA gutted out a gritty 61-51 victory over UNLV Sunday at
Pauley Pavilion, starting its season off with a crucial win and
giving coach Kathy Olivier bragging rights over her alma
mater. With a brutally tough schedule looming, UCLA knows each
game they play is vitally important.
“We will take (the win) and run,” Olivier
said. “As a staff, we were thinking there’s no
Texas without getting UNLV first. Take care of today so we can
talk about our next opponent, and these players know everything
counts.”
The game was so important to the Bruin squad that Olivier was
hit with a rare technical foul late in the first half for arguing
with the referees over physical play.
“I was shocked,” said Olivier, who couldn’t
recall when she picked up her last technical.
“Sometimes my personality lets me get a little excited,
and you don’t want to outshine the officials,” she
said.
UCLA’s offense was anything but shining on Sunday.
UCLA struggled mightily from the offensive side of the floor,
shooting 35 percent for the game. But when they desperately
needed a basket to generate a second-half comeback, the Bruins
turned to sophomore Nikki Blue.
Down 43-41 with seven minutes to play, Blue converted on three
straight offensive possessions to spark a 15-3 Bruin run that put
the game out of reach for UNLV.
“I just found my rhythm in the second half,” said
Blue, who led all scorers with 15 points. “(My
teammates) knew I was hot, so they got me the rock.”
“(Blue) reeks of confidence this year,” Olivier
said. “She was a great leader today and pretty much took care
of business herself.”
While its offense left something to be desired, UCLA’s
defense suffocated its opponent for the second straight game,
limiting UNLV to 31 percent shooting from the field.
The Bruins forced a whopping 31 turnovers out of the Lady
Rebels, which they converted into 25 points.Â
UNLV set an aggressive and physical tone to the game early on,
something UCLA was unaccustomed to, but handled with flying
colors.
“We’re not used to girls being that physical,”
Blue said. “It was tough at times, but we handled
ourselves and we got in there and banged with them.”
Freshman Noelle Quinn struggled offensively in her
much-anticipated regular season debut, finishing with 11 points,
all of which came in the first half.
Quinn compensated her lackluster play on offense with her
rebounding and aggressiveness on the defensive side of the floor,
finishing the game with three steals and a team-high eight
rebounds.
“It’s not really how I wanted to start off,”
Quinn said. “I just struggled offensively, so I had to
pick it up defensively. I know we had to work on our
rebounding, so I tried to work on that today, and I think it
improved.”