TYSON EVANS Freshman guard Brianna Winn discovers that a
straight line is not the path of least resistance. USC
71 UCLA 58
By Jackie Abellada
Daily Bruin Contributor
In a crosstown rivalry match-up, everyone expected it to be this
physical. But this time around, there were no punches thrown nor
suspensions handed down, just a lot of blown whistles.
For the first time in five years, the UCLA women’s
basketball team suffered a season series sweep against USC, losing
Saturday night’s game 71-58.
Led by Aisha Hollan’s game-high 24 points, the Women of
Troy stopped any chance for the Bruins to avenge a 67-57 defeat
earlier in the season.
But this victory was not easy for USC, which shot a low 36.8
percent (21-for-57) from the field.
“It was not pretty but I didn’t expect it to
be,” said USC head coach Chris Gobrecht. “UCLA
wasn’t going to back down a single possession and that is to
their credit.”
It appeared that the referees were going to take control of the
game from the very start, ensuring that there were no activities
that might lead to more than just the normal pushing and shoving.
As a consequence, fouls were called left and right.
The teams, however, maintained their physical endurance
throughout the entire game. Of the 45 personal fouls handed down,
the majority (26) came in the second half.
“I am still trying to figure out what the calls
were,” Bruin head coach Kathy Olivier said.
There appeared to be a tremendous amount of emotion coming from
both sides due not only to the rivalry but also to how the previous
game ended – a fight, between UCLA’s Shalada Allen and
USC’s Ebony Hoffman. Accordingly, both players were suspended
for one game.
“There were a lot of feelings out there,” said
Hoffman, who finished the game with eight points. “I knew
they were going to come after me to aggravate me. I was really
trying to keep my cool, but I knew I couldn’t do anything but
just kick back and relax.”
The closest incident that might have resulted in a similar
altercation came late in the second half. In an effort to stop an
easy fast-break lay-up, Bruin guard Natalie Nakase was charged with
an intentional, flagrant foul after USC’s Jessica Cheeks hit
the basket post. Both players were mildly restrained by fellow
teammates before anything could happen.
“I wasn’t trying to get into a fight or anything
like that,” said Cheeks, who finished with a career-high 15
points. “I just got up and looked forward to shooting my free
throws.”
Whitney Jones led UCLA with 21 points. No other Bruin reached
double-figures, the closest being freshman Brianna Winn with
nine.