Natalie Nakase protects the ball from an
Arizona player during a game earlier this season. UCLA lost to
Oregon 54-43 Saturday and will face Stanford this Friday.
Oregon 54 UCLA 43
By Scott Schultz
Daily Bruin Contributor
The Bruins’ road difficulties continued as they lost their
eighth straight road game, this time falling 54-43 to the 20th
ranked Oregon Ducks at McArthur Court.
The Bruins (3-15, 2-5 Pac-10) got off to a promising start
Saturday with a quick 5-0 lead. But sophomore point guard Natalie
Nakase got into early foul trouble, picking up two fouls in the
first two minutes of the game, which relegated the playmaker to the
bench.
By the time Nakase came back into the game at 12:41 in the first
half with the Bruins leading 11-10, sophomore forward Kristee
Porter was heading to the bench with her second foul of the game.
That was the last time the Bruins led.
“Natalie does a great job handling the ball for us,
without her on the floor it puts pressure on the other
players,” UCLA head coach Kathy Olivier said.
With Nakase on the sideline, the Bruins had to rely even more
than usual on junior guard Michelle Greco, who was moved to the
point during Nakase’s forced breather.
Greco, who leads the Pac-10 in scoring at 19.9 points per game,
faced double and triple teams the entire game. She led all scorers
with 17 points, but made only 6 of 29 shots from the field, and 2
of 12 from three-point range.
Greco was forced to take extra shots because there was no
offense coming from the post players. The four post players for the
Bruins shot a combined 1 for 14 from the field.
“This team relies on Michelle (Greco) offensively. When
she misses some of her shots, we get down and we have to try to
pick it up on the defensive end,” Olivier said.
The half ended with the Ducks (12-5, 5-2) leading 24-19 in a
defensive duel, as each team was held to less than 25 percent
shooting from the field.
The second half, however, was a battle of offensive runs, as the
Ducks had two 13-0 runs, enabling them to build a 25-point lead
with six and a half minutes remaining in the game.
“In the second half we did a better job looking inside and
made easier baskets than the first half,” Oregon head coach
Jody Runge said.
After the break, the Ducks were able to pound the ball inside
and take advantage of the Bruins’ foul trouble. Oregon went
to the line 19 times, making 14 free throws, while both Nakase and
Porter quickly fouled out of the ball game, lasting only a combined
37 minutes.
“We need Kristee inside,” Olivier said. “We
need her quickness and athletic abilities underneath. We need to
keep her on the floor.”
Just as they did Thursday against Oregon State, the Bruins were
able to whittle the 25 point lead to 52-43 with a minute to play on
the strength of a 16-0 run. But once again, it was too little too
late for the Bruins, who have yet to win a game away from Pauley
Pavilion this year.
“Losing two games in a row, this was a must-win,”
Oregon senior forward Brianne Meharry said. “It was a fight
to get into this game … It was a fight to win.”
With their victory over the Bruins, Oregon remains in a
first-place tie in the Pac-10 with the Arizona Wildcats. Both have
conference records of 5-2.
The Bruins, who are assured now of their first losing season
since 1996-97, hope to regain the momentum they built up last week
when they beat Arizona. UCLA returns to Pauley Pavilion Thursday to
face the Cal Bears (6-11, 2-5).