CAL 83 UCLA 59
By Scott Schultz
Daily Bruin Contributor
The Bruins (4-22, 3-12 Pac-10) were hoping to win their first
road game of the year Thursday night against California (12-13,
8-7), but instead UCLA was the recipient of the most lopsided
conference loss of their season, 83-59 at Haas Pavilion.
In the first half, the Bruins could not generate any offense, as
junior guard Michelle Greco and sophomore forward Kristee Porter
combined for 19 of UCLA’s 23 points.
Freshman Whitney Jones, the Bruins’ third option on
offense, was plagued by fouls the entire game. She was removed from
the game in the opening minutes after being called for a pair of
fouls.
“Whitney adds consistency for us on both ends of the
floor,” said UCLA Head Coach Kathy Olivier. “When she
left the game, the other players were unable to make up for
it.”
Sophomore point guard Natalie Nakase was straitjacketed by the
larger and quicker Cal perimeter players. Nakase also had
first-half foul troubles and was limited to only four minutes on
the floor in the first half.
No Bruin was able to join Greco and Porter in the scoring column
until sophomore Natalie Jarrett laid in a missed shot with four
minutes remaining in the first half.
“Cal did a good job of mixing up defenses,” Olivier
said. “They were smart with the way they kept changing
defensive strategies.”
The Bruins were beaten on both ends of the floor and in all
aspects of the game. They were out-rebounded 46-33. The Bears were
30 of 39 from the free throw line, while the Bruins went 18 for 27
from the charity stripe.
The senior-rich Golden Bears, who were ahead the entire game,
led by as much as 29 points in the second half of the match.
The 24-point margin of victory is Cal’s largest ever
against UCLA. This season is also the first time that Cal has swept
UCLA.
The Bruins, who were led by Greco’s 16 points and
Porter’s eight rebounds, have no time to dwell on this defeat
because they have another tough road game Saturday against the
Stanford Cardinal.
Olivier reminded the Bruins how the men’s team had lost
big at Cal and then was able to shake off that loss to defeat
Stanford, beginning the men’s current eight-game winning
streak.
Stanford will not be a gracious host this weekend, since the
Cardinal will be smarting from being upset by USC 62-59 Thursday
night at Maples Pavilion.
Stanford (15-10, 9-6), led by freshman guard Nicole Powell,
defeated the Bruins 60-52 at Pauley Pavilion in their first meeting
in February.
“We’re going to regroup for Stanford,” Olivier
said.
The game against the Cardinal will be the Bruins’ final
road game of the season. Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m. at Maples
Pavilion.