COURTNEY STEWART Michelle Greco delivers
the ball when the Bruins took on rival USC Saturday. The women lost
to Arizona Thursday night. Arizona 89 UCLA 79
By Scott Schultz
Daily Bruin Contributor
The Bruins got a career-best 25 points from sophomore Kristee
Porter Thursday night against Arizona, but it wasn’t enough
to overcome the Wildcats’ high-powered offense, or the
lopsided refereeing at the McKale Center, as UCLA fell 89-79.
The Wildcats (17-7, 7-5 Pac-10), who entered the game with the
highest scoring average and the best field goal percentage in the
Pac-10, controlled the tempo of the game, shooting over 50 percent
from the field including a robust 41.7 percent on three-point
attempts.
They also benefitted from referees who sent the Wildcats to the
line 22 times more than the Bruins. Arizona had a 26-8 advantage on
free throw attempts in the second half.
“The referees called the game very inconsistently,”
UCLA head coach Kathy Olivier said. “It prevented our defense
from getting into any kind of flow.”
The Bruins (3-19, 2-9) got off to a quick start and exchanged
leads with the Wildcats throughout the game.
Sophomore Michelle Greco, who leads the Pac-10 in scoring at
19.9 points per game, was the central focus of the Wildcats’
zone defense.
Although Greco finished the game with 22 points, she was held to
only five points in the first half.
“In the first half they guarded me in a box and one, so it
was hard to get off shots,” Greco said. “Kristee and
Whitney (Jones) did a great job scoring, which opened me in the
second half.”
UCLA benefitted from the improved offensive contributions by
Porter and Jones, who also had a career-high 13 points. At
intermission UCLA trailed 42-37.
The resilient Bruins rallied after the break and were able to
tie the game a few times before re-taking the lead midway through
the second half.
The Bruins led 59-55 with 10:45 remaining in the game, but
surrendered a quick 16-2 run to the Wildcats and never regained the
lead.
During the run there were several questionable fouls, and the
Bruins watched two players from their already thin frontline foul
out of the game.
“We made a strong run in the second half, and then got a
lot of free throws and that killed us,” Greco said.
The tragedy of the lopsided focus by the referees is that the
Bruins rebounded from a Shaq-poor performance at the line in their
last game to shoot an eye-opening 10 of 11 from the charity stripe
this game.
“Our defense wasn’t aggressive,” sophomore
guard Natalie Nakase said. “We didn’t get back on
defense in transition, and we put them on the line.”
The Wildcats were led by senior guard Reshea Bristol, who had 25
points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
The Bruins, who are 0-10 on the road this season, continue their
road trip Saturday at 2 p.m. when they travel to Tempe to face the
Arizona State Sun Devils.