The UCLA women’s basketball team stayed strong until the end of the game against Oregon State (8-13, 3-9 Pac-10) on Saturday night to bring a win back home to California. In a game with 17 lead changes, the Bruins (13-12, 7-6 Pac-10) came out on top 75-65 at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis, Ore.
UCLA led by eight points with 2:48 remaining in the first half, but Oregon State went on a 12-4 run to tie the game 36-36 at the half. Senior guard Casey Nash was one of the reasons why the Beavers remained evenly matched with UCLA.
Nash finished the first half strong, scoring 13 points. Coming out of the locker room, the Bruins wanted to shut Nash down, which they did thanks to senior forward Julia Pitts. A very quick defender, Pitts helped hold Nash to only four points in the second half.
UCLA also took care of the ball in the second half.
The Bruins committed 11 turnovers in the first half, but decreased that number to five in the second half.
“We had talked about cutting down on our turnovers and playing our basketball and not letting the other team dictate how we play,” said junior forward Lindsey Pluimer. “We really focused on getting ourselves into the right mode.”
Starting in the fifth minute of the second half, a jump shot by senior guard Noelle Quinn propelled UCLA on a 16-6 run to take the win. Free throws helped seal the victory at the end of the game, as UCLA made 87.5 percent of their shots from the line.
Coach Kathy Olivier credits the Bruins’ defense in the victory. UCLA came out playing tough defense from the start, which created a lot of opportunities for their offense to score. The entire team worked on getting stops and containing the Beavers’ key players.
“This was probably our best defensive effort of the season,” Olivier said. “Oregon State has been shooting the ball well, and it was just a total team effort as far as the defense goes.”
Quinn played a key role for the Bruins down the stretch. Quinn played all 40 minutes and showed great leadership. She was extremely vocal, took care of the ball during UCLA possessions, and made her free throws.
She finished the game with 22 points, nine rebounds and seven assists to become the game leader in all three categories.
“This was (Quinn’s) fourth time on this road trip,” said Olivier. “You could tell that she was going to do anything she had to do to get the victory.”
Three other Bruins scored in double digits.
Pluimer had 17 points and four assists. Meanwhile, senior forward Amanda Livingston finished with 14 points and five rebounds. Sophomore guard Tierra Henderson contributed 10 points.
The Bruins will continue to clean up their defense in practice as they get ready to face USC this weekend.
“We’re going to prepare to play with the same intensity as we did tonight,” Olivier said.