PATIL ARMENIAN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Jalina
Bradley winds up to high-five her teammates on the
sidelines during a 70-68 win over the University of Oregon on
Friday. UCLA d. Oregon 70-68 Oregon
State d. UCLA 65-57
By Joshua Mason
Daily Bruin Reporter
Not only did the Bruins manage to split their weekend home
series against the Oregon schools and garner their fourth win of
the season, they were able to win without their leading scorer.
Learning only hours before their Friday game against Oregon
(13-11, 6-8 Pac-10) that junior guard Michelle Greco would be
sitting on the bench, the Bruin women (4-21, 3-11) were able to
pull together and provide a total team effort against the Ducks,
edging them by a final score of 70-68.
With Greco back on Sunday, the same effort was obvious against
Oregon State as well, though the upstart Bruins eventually fell by
a score of 65-57.
“It was good for team morale to pick up that win against
Oregon,” Head Coach Kathy Olivier said. “Oregon is a
team that we’re not overly fond of to start out with, and to
win like we did with a complete team effort was a huge boost for
us.”
Greco, who was plagued with a series of concussions last season,
sat out the Oregon contest as a precaution due to a head injury she
sustained against Arizona State a week earlier.
In Friday’s matchup, instead of one player controlling the
ball most of the game, the team shared the wealth in a surprisingly
effective offensive gameplan.
“The way we started out this game in the locker room was
probably the best ever,” said UCLA point guard Natalie
Nakase, who grabbed a career-high eight steals and matched a
previous high of seven assists on the night. “Everyone was
into it and we just came out and were ready to go.”
The Ducks started off with a 9-1 run, but UCLA managed to slow
down Oregon’s offense and pace them for the rest of the first
period, ending the half trailing 33-30.
With 9:37 to play in the second period, UCLA took a 52-49 lead
that they wouldn’t relinquish for the rest of the night. Down
by two points with 11 seconds remaining, the Ducks attempted an
in-bounds pass that was intercepted by Nakase to seal the Bruin
victory.
The story of the night was more than just an end to UCLA’s
grueling seven-game losing skid. It was also the story of the Bruin
bench stepping up and filling valuable roles.
Guards A.J. Bradley and Gennifer Arranaga played brilliantly in
Greco’s place, combining for 44 minutes and 21 points on
9-of-12 shooting. Freshman forward Jamila Veasley posted up career
highs in scoring with nine points and in rebounding with 11
boards.
Against Oregon State the Bruins played yet another solid game,
only this time falling in the final minutes.
OSU forward Felicia Ragland had an extremely hot hand in her
matchup against Greco, the only player in the conference with a
higher scoring average than the Beaver star.
Ragland dominated the first period, scoring a total of 23 points
and almost matching UCLA’s first-half tally.
With Ragland in foul trouble early in the second half, UCLA took
control and managed to hold the lead until only four minutes
remained in the game.
In the end, however, it was Ragland who finished the strongest,
scoring the game’s final four points from the line and ending
the day with a career high 31 points, including a 6 of 6
performance from three-point land. Sophomore Kristee Porter
finished with her second double-double in as many games, scoring 19
points and grabbing 11 rebounds.