A few minutes after her team’s 12th consecutive loss to
Stanford, UCLA women’s basketball coach Kathy Olivier walked
to the locker room with a multitude of emotions.
There was confusion as to how UCLA could lead fourth-ranked
Stanford for over 15 minutes in the first half, yet trail by
double-digits going into halftime. There was frustration over the
inconsistent officiating and Stanford’s physical play.
But despite the Bruins’ 81-68 loss to the Cardinal on
Sunday at Pauley Pavilion, Olivier still had the feeling of
hope.
With the Pac-10 Tournament two weeks away and only one game at
crosstown rival USC remaining in the regular season, Olivier still
feels optimistic that her team will earn an NCAA Tournament
berth.
“I think this year, the Pac-10 has really done a great job
with preseason,” Olivier said. “Hopefully no one
forgets that come tournament time. Teams did what they were
supposed to do, and we were one of them. If the conference
doesn’t get five teams in, that’s a shame.”
Though the Bruins dropped to sixth place in the Pac-10, there
are only two wins separating the second and sixth-ranked teams in
the conference, making the race for a bid to the NCAA Tournament
hotly contested.
“We have not had any bad losses this year,” Olivier
said. “Hopefully (the NCAA Committee) takes that into
consideration.”
While the Bruins don’t consider Sunday’s defeat to
Pac-10 champion Cardinal a bad loss, the game was yet another
example of how much the Bruins (16-10, 10-7 Pac-10) miss injured
sophomore Noelle Quinn against upper-echelon teams like Stanford
(24-2, 15-1).
Though the Bruins led by as many as eight points in the first
half, the Cardinal never wavered, methodically chipping away at the
lead that would soon become its own.
Toward the end of the first half, Stanford reeled off a 17-4 run
to go into the half with a 43-31 lead. Senior center Sissy Pickett
was the lone Bruin to score during 3:44 stretch.
“The last three minutes hurt us,” Olivier said.
“We just couldn’t do it on the defensive
end.”
Stanford freshman Candice Wiggins, who finished with a team-high
24 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, drove to the basket
relentlessly and stymied the Bruins with her dribble
penetration.
As a result of Wiggins’ drives to the basket, Stanford
guards Susan Borchardt and Kelley Suminski were frequently left
open behind the arc, each nailing a trio of 3-pointers.
Besides Stanford’s success from the perimeter, the
wear-and-tear inside game of Brooke Smith and Kristen Newlin
overwhelmed UCLA’s front line.
The five Bruin post players in the game were each largely
ineffective, collecting a combined 17 personal fouls (Amanda
Livingston fouled out) in an effort to slow down the Cardinal
duo.
Trailing by as many as 15 in the second half, the Bruins never
cut the Cardinal lead to less than nine as Stanford held UCLA to
just 28 percent shooting in the second half.
“It’s kind of hard when you play a team like that
because you can’t trade baskets,” said junior Nikki
Blue, who finished with a team-high 24 points and seven rebounds.
“You have to get a stop on defense, and you have to make a
run of your own.”