Utah 89 UCLA 42 Â
By Jackie Abellada
Daily Bruin Contributor
This time around, there was no late-minute surge. There was no
comeback ““ only looks of astonishment as the clock
winded down to zero.
The UCLA women’s basketball team came into Salt Lake City
this past Saturday hoping to extend its winning streak to
three games. But what transpired on the court was something the
Bruins do not ever want to remember ““ an embarrassing 89-42
loss at the hands of the Utah Utes.
“I think it was a wake-up call for us,” head coach
Kathy Olivier said. “We need to learn how to win on the road.
When things don’t go well, we need to learn how to stay
together.”
The Utes started the game piping hot, making five of their first
six baskets, including four from behind the three-point mark. After
opening the game on a 16-1 run, the Utes never looked back.
“It was a good game for us and a great night,” Utah
head coach Elaine Elliott said. “We hit some shots early on,
and that always helps us.”
The Bruins finished the first half trailing their opponents
““ a position they have grown accustomed to this season. The
squad has yet to lead going into the locker room at
intermission.
But this time it was different. Maybe it was because they were
trailing by 17 points. Or, maybe, it was because they were on
the road. In any case, the Bruins did not come together as a team.
In fact, they appeared to fall apart even more, scoring only 19
points in the second half.
The squad looked like the Bruins of the not-so-distant-past on
the road, making only 16-of-65 of their shots ““ a horrible
24.6 percent from the field.
The 47-point loss marks the second-largest margin of defeat
(just behind the 53-point loss to Long Beach State in 1984)
that the team has suffered in the school’s history.
“We just struggled a little, and you can’t do that
on the road because it’s too hard to make up ground,”
Olivier said.
The Bruins’ defense of late has been suffocating to say
the least, forcing their previous two opponents to a combined 54
turnovers. But Saturday night, the team’s pressuring defense
seemed nonexistent as the Utes shot 51.7 percent from the field. It
appeared that everything the Utes were throwing in the general
vicinity of the basket was going in. And the Bruins could not find
an answer to their opponent’s hot-shooting hands.
“Our defense did not step up,” Olivier said.
“Utah exposed a lot of holes in our defense and, on the road,
it is that much harder.
“Our defense is designed to have our opponents put the
ball on the floor, and we weren’t doing that.”
The Utes’ terrific shooting from the field was only
eclipsed by a white-hot performance behind the arc, where Utah made
11-of-17 attempts, for 64.7 percent.
The Utes’ outside shooting opened up the team’s
inside game in the paint, where the home team outscored the Bruins
28-16. Lauren Beckman, the team’s dominant post-up player,
was held to only four points in the first half. But in the second
half, Beckman exploded offensively, finishing the day scoring a
game-high 19 points and pulling down six rebounds.
Michelle Greco was the only Bruin to hit double digits, scoring
13 points. Malika Leatham and Gennifer Arranaga both chipped in
with eight points apiece.
With the win, the Utes (3-2) have once again shown their muscle
at home, where they have not lost this season. With the defeat, the
Bruins (4-2) are still searching for their rhythm on the road.