Less than two minutes into the quarterfinals of the Women’s National Invitational Tournament, redshirt sophomore guard Kari Korver knocked down her first 3-pointer, giving UCLA women’s basketball an early 3-2 lead.
A minute and 22 seconds later, she dropped a second from NBA range only to have it waved off by a moving screen. But Korver was feeling it, and responded with another bomb from the same distance three possessions later to put the Bruins up 11-8.
The early 3s would set the tone for UCLA’s season-best 3-point shooting performance, as the Bruins (17-18) outshot the St. Mary’s Gaels (23-11) in the Elite Eight of the WNIT Sunday.
UCLA finished the game shooting 10-17 from 3s on a 58.8 percent clip, both season-best marks for the Bruins. Five different players hit from downtown in a game won by a balanced team attack.
“We’ve gotten a lot better at setting screens – most of my shots are not just me being super wide open,” Korver said. “Someone’s screening for me or (freshman guard Jordin Canada) penetrating and kicking out, and I just think we’ve really improved in that area of finding each other when we’re open.”
When St. Mary’s was able to chase UCLA off the 3-point line, the Bruins relied on that same improvement to find the open shooter. After junior guard Nirra Fields carried the team with 26 points in a third-round win last Thursday, no UCLA player reached more than 13 points on Sunday.
Instead, it was the balanced attack that spurred the offense as 11 Bruins scored. Seven different players tallied up seven or more points behind Fields and Canada, who tied with team-highs of 13 points. St. Mary’s on the other hand, relied on its leading scorer guard Lauren Nicholson for 23 points. Only one other Gaels scorer reached double-digits.
“I think we’re just a better team when that happens,” said coach Cori Close. “I’m most proud that we assisted on 22 baskets, to me that’s been the missing link for us. When they take away the first thing you like to do, how do you get to the second thing and the third thing.”
Fields struggled from the field, shooting 6-16 for 13 points. However, she dished out a team-high nine assists, with seven coming in the second half.
While the 3s were raining right from the get-go, the first half was a grind, with a bodies-on-the-ground battle that was more suited to the methodical half-court attack of St. Mary’s. Despite a 34-25 lead at halftime, Close said that she wanted to see UCLA open the court up and push the pace more in the second half.
So the Bruins came out of the locker room running and gunning, and everyone started to find open shots. After being held without a shot in the first half, senior forward/center Corinne Costa finished a perfect four-for-four with two free throws and 10 points.
“A few of the layups were just run down to the rim and post-ups, and (Canada) and (Fields) both gave me really great passes and I just turned around into easy shots,” Costa said. “The transition part of that, widening the floor and sprinting down really helped with those easy buckets.”
The Bruins will look to carry some of that fire with them to play the Michigan Wolverines in the Final Four on Wednesday.