Oregon State 77 UCLA 36
By Jackie Abellada
Daily Bruin Contributor
As if things could not get any worse, they just did.
The UCLA women’s basketball team participated in a night
filled with broken records. But not the good kind, as the squad
suffered an embarrasing 77-36 loss against Oregon State University
last night.
“Oregon State is a very hungry team ““ they were very
aggressive early,” Bruins head coach Kathy Olivier said after
the game. “It was brutal up here.”
The Bruins started the game shooting horribly, making only
2-of-20 baskets in the first half ““ a new team record low of
10 percent.
Their ten first half points also set a new team record for
futility. (The previous low was 14 points against Georgia in
1985).
The Bruins took the lead early in the game after a Malika
Leatham jumper at the 12:05 mark. The score: 7-6.
But that was the last Bruin basket before going into
intermission.
Taking advantage of its opponent’s serious shooting
drought, the Beavers went on a 19-0 run. The Beavers ended the half
up by 23 points.
It was already over.
“That has been happening for us all year,” Olivier
said.
“We do a good job at the start and then we go on a
five/six minute skid of not being able to score.”
The Bruins’ defense, known for its tenacity and
persistence, just could not put a stop to the Beavers’
offensive attack. Felicia Ragland did not disappoint the fans of
Gill Coliseum as the Pac-10 Player of the Week led her team and all
scorers with 19 points.
Unfortunately for the Bruins, she was not the only Beaver
sinking her baskets. Brina Chaney had a career-high 14 points and
Ericka Cook chipped in with 10 of her own.
“Ragland’s so good that you focus so much on trying
to stop her that it opens it up for other people,” Olivier
said.
It appears that the lack of a pure shooter has finally taken its
toll on the Bruins. The 36 points was the lowest total offensive
output in the team’s history. The previous low was 41 points
against Wayland Baptist in 1975.
Not a single Bruin scored in double digits. The closest was
Brianna Winn with nine points. Whitney Jones added 7 of her
own.
“It is tough when our go-to people are not here,”
Olivier said.
“Tonight on the road, we were just a little nervous.
“We didn’t have anyone that wanted to step up,
wanted to be the aggressive one, wanted to take the
shot.”
But it was not just poor Bruin shooting that kept the score low
for UCLA.
The Beavers, who are known for their offensive outbursts, turned
it up a notch on the other side.
“I think our players came out and really set the defensive
tone,” OSU head coach Judy Spoelstra said. “We knew
that we could run the floor to get some easy points and our post
players did a great job.”
UCLA (5-13, 2-8 in Pac-10) will conclude its road swing of
Oregon schools when it faces the University of Oregon (11-8, 6-4)
on Saturday at 7:00 pm.