Two entirely different versions of the UCLA women’s
basketball showed up this weekend.
On Friday night, the Bruins demonstrated poise and purpose
against No. 5 Stanford, but ultimately fell just short as the
first-place Cardinal tightened its grip on the Pac-10 race with an
80-78 victory at Pauley Pavilion.
Then on Sunday, UCLA lacked any intensity or sense of urgency
until the waning moments, falling to unheralded California
69-61.
“We wanted both victories very badly,” said UCLA
guard Michelle Greco. “We knew how important the Cal game
was, and we got into desperation mode in the second half. The shots
weren’t falling for us.”
The pair of losses drops the Bruins (11-7, 6-3 Pac-10) into a
third-place tie in the Pac-10 with Arizona, and cripple the
squad’s NCAA tournament hopes.
Despite the loss, UCLA played inspired basketball all night
against the Cardinal (15-2, 7-1 Pac-10), and the game remained in
doubt until the final buzzer.
A pair of Greco free throws knotted the score at 78 with 27.3
seconds to play, setting the stage for Stanford’s Nicole
Powell. The All-American forward held the ball near
midcourt as the clock ticked down before sweeping past UCLA
forward Whitney Jones and burying a contested shot in the lane with
just 2.3 seconds left.
“I just tried to make sure we got the last shot so that
they didn’t have time to score,” said Powell, who is
still recovering from a herniated disc in her lower back that kept
her sidelined for the first two months of the season.
Powell led the Cardinal with 23 points, but it was her
supporting cast that devastated the Bruins down the stretch.
Chelsea Trotter finished with a career-high 17 points while fellow
sophomore Sebnem Kimyaciogalu notched 15 on five-of-nine shooting
from behind the arc.
“Stanford has so many weapons out there,” UCLA head
coach Kathy Olivier said. “We spent so much time worrying
about Powell that the other players got cleaner looks. They hit
some big shots at key times.”
While the Cardinal shot 58.6 percent from the floor in the
second half, they were never able to build a
sizeable lead. The Bruins’ backcourt combination of
Greco and freshman Nikki Blue matched every Stanford flurry with a
barrage of their own.
Blue rode the bench in the first half after picking up two early
fouls, but she made the most of her limited time on the floor. The
freshman phenom tallied all 16 of her points in the second half,
frustrating the Stanford defense with her quickness and ability to
get to the basket.
Less than a week after a pair of sub-par offensive games in
Arizona, Greco played like an All-American candidate, notching a
game-high 28 points and a career-high eight steals.
“I think Greco is a really special player,” Stanford
head coach Tara Vanderveer said. “She really sets the tone
for them as far as how hard they play, and the other players follow
her.”
Although she was happy with the team’s effort against
Stanford, Olivier is well aware how devastating the Cal loss may
be. With three-straight road games on the horizon, the Bruins have
their work cut out for them.
“We worked hard to get to this point, and then we gave it
back,” Olivier said. “We are going to have to be ready
to go on the road.”