Monday, December 7, 1998
Team rebounds strongly after weak first half against Titans
RECAP: Sketchy start forgotten as players pick up confidence,
improve shooting, teamwork
By A. CinQue Carter
Daily Bruin Staff
They played competitively and then they fell into the abyss.
Cal State Fullerton (1-2) looked like a ranked team for one half
(or UCLA looked like an unranked one) but then the No. 10 UCLA
women’s basketball team exposed them.
Bruin point guard Erica Gomez had her fourth game with 10 or
more assists this season, finishing with No. 11 center Janae
Hubbard owned the boards, pulling down 16 as UCLA defeated
Fullerton 94-64 at Pauley Pavilion.
The Titans capitalized on three Gomez turnovers in the first two
minutes of the game, opening up a 7-0 lead. Six turnovers overall
by the Bruins in their first nine possessions would lead to the
Titans gaining their largest lead at 17-6 with just under 13
minutes to go.
"Erica’s still trying to find that comfort zone," coach Kathy
Olivier said of the junior, who missed the first two weeks of
practice.
The No. 10 Bruins were able to make a little noise to close out
the half and take a one-point lead into intermission. But they were
being out-rebounded 24-23, were shooting only .325 from the field
and had allowed five three-point goals by the Titans.
On the positive side, UCLA had only two turnovers in the final
13:49 of the first half, finishing with only eight at the
break.
Bruins finally clamped down after Titans Missy Bynon and
Kristina Naumovic stretched a five-point lead to 27-17 with their
consecutive three pointers.
When junior forward Maylana Martin scored a layup on the fifth
of six first-half-Gomez assists, it closed the Bruin deficit to
27-19. Fullerton’s Erin Whiteside failed to convert two free
throws. Lake, Bynon and Naumovic turned the ball over on three
straight possessions, two of which came on junior forward Marie
Philman steals.
"I started off slowly," Philman said, "and really got frustrated
with myself. I needed to play smarter and stay poised and
positive."
Despite the unexpected challenge the Titans presented, the
Bruins needed to stay focused. And they did, to continue their
comeback push.
With an additional turnover by Titan leading scorer Andrea
Thieme, who finished with 16 points, and sandwiched by three more
turnovers, Fullerton found itself trailing 34-33 at the half.
"I think we had a bad spell in the first half," Fullerton coach
and former Bruin-great Denise Curry said. "We lost some confidence.
We weren’t mentally ready for the full court pressure. We weren’t
ready for the second half."
That UCLA pressure created a 9-0 run to open the second half,
and by the 12:29 mark, it had extended the Bruin lead 69-38 on two
free throws by freshman guard LaCresha Flannigan.
At that point, UCLA had scored more points in less than eight
minutes (35) than they had scored in the whole first half (34).
Gomez, Philman, Hubbard and Martin combined with fellow starter
Melanie Pearson for an 18-1 run in just over three minutes to take
a 52-34 lead and the Bruins never looked back.
Backup power forward Carly Funicello, who was one of five Bruins
in double figures, said, "In the second half we were a lot more
focused (than the first)."
Olivier added, "We created turnovers and picked it up
defensively."
The second half also saw the Bruins shoot 11-of-12 from the free
throw line to finish at .826 and only turn the ball over six times
to finish with a season-low of 14.
Gomez and Hubbard each had double-doubles. Martin and Philman
rounded out UCLA’s double figure scorers.
Forward Ayesha Rembert and Flannigan came off the bench to chip
in six and nine points, respectively.
About her first return to Pauley Pavilion as a head coach, Curry
said, "To me, UCLA is another opponent right now. I still consider
myself a loyal Bruin, but I came to this arena like any other
arena."
And the Bruins treated her like any other guest, sending her
home wondering what happened.
The Bruins (5-2) have now won five consecutive games after an
0-2 start and will play two more warm-up contests (against San
Diego and Texas) before they face three-time defending national
champion Tennessee.
"We need to focus on the little things," Funicello said, "and
realize what we need to get done. We know (if we play like we can)
we can hang with Tennessee."MICHAEL ROSS WACHT/Daily Bruin Senior
Staff
Center Janae Hubbard shoots over two players from Cal State
Fullerton Saturday.
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