SAN JOSE “”mdash; Michelle Greco was in agony after UCLA’s
loss to Stanford on Saturday afternoon, but it wasn’t because
she took a vicious blow to her nose that sidelined her for much of
the first half.
Instead, the source of Greco’s pain was the
Cardinal’s Nicole Powell, who broke a 61-61 tie with 1:56
left by burying a desperation 30-foot jumper as the shot clock
expired.
It enabled No. 9 Stanford to build enough momentum to eke out a
69-64 victory over the Bruins in the semifinals of the Pac-10
tournament in San Jose.
“Powell’s shot ““ that’s what
hurts,” Greco said. “She’s a clutch player,
she’s a great player and she’s definitely not the
person we wanted to have the ball with one second remaining on the
shot clock.”
While Powell’s heroics may have cost the Bruins (18-11,
12-6 Pac-10) their opportunity for an upset over top- seed Stanford
(25-4, 15-3 Pac-10), her shot did not bury UCLA’s NCAA
tournament hopes altogether.
A 71-58 quarterfinal victory over Oregon leaves UCLA head coach
Kathy Olivier confident that her team has accomplished enough to
earn a bid.
“Eighteen wins should be enough,” Olivier said.
“We play in a very strong conference, and have proven
ourselves throughout the whole year. I’d be very surprised if
the selection committee doesn’t take us.”
UCLA finished the season winning six of its last eight, and
hopes a strong Pac-10 season will offset its mediocre
non-conference results.
The squad’s postseason fate will be determined on
Selection Sunday, March 16, but if they do not make the NCAA
tournament, the Bruins will be haunted by memories of what might
have been.
Trailing Stanford 52-37 with 10 minutes remaining in the game,
the Bruins mounted a furious rally to claw their way back into
contention.
UCLA’s trademark full-court pressure and the perimeter
shooting of freshman Lisa Willis were the catalysts for a 17-2 run
that left the game deadlocked at 54 with 4:36 remaining on the
clock.
The Cardinal posted seven of their 25 turnovers during that
stretch, and could not seem to regain their composure in the face
of UCLA’s relentless defensive pressure.
“We were the turnover queens out there,” Stanford
head coach Tara VanDerveer said. “That really hurt us. Nobody
(plays full court pressure) better than UCLA.”
Once the Bruins tied the score, the teams traded baskets until
Powell’s fateful shot gave Stanford a 64-61 advantage that
they would not relinquish.
An obviously deflated Bruin squad managed only an errant
three-point attempt from Greco on the ensuing possession and from
there the Cardinal coasted to a victory.
Powell finished with a team-high of 18 points and 15 rebounds,
and Stanford out-rebounded the Bruins 49-21.
Lisa Willis led UCLA with 17 points off the bench in just 18
minutes of play.
Despite a bloody nose and a heavy heart, Greco put up a brave
front after the loss.
While the game potentially could have been her last in a UCLA
uniform, the senior guard believes the Bruins have done enough to
earn an NCAA bid.
“We feel like we have proven ourselves and that we deserve
to be in the tournament,” she said. “We are going to be
waiting patiently until Sunday, but we’ll be excited to hear
our name called.”
Ңbull;Ӣbull;Ӣbull;
Nikki Blue set one Pac-10 tournament record during UCLA’s
quarterfinal victory over Oregon on Saturday, and nearly set
another. The freshman sensation posted a tournament-record eight
steals against the Ducks, and tallied 30 points, seven shy of
Nicole Powell’s 37 against Oregon State in last year’s
semifinals.
“I pretty much had the feeling,” Blue said after the
game. “I wasn’t ready to go home yet so I did whatever
it would take for my team to win.”