• printer friendly
• mail this article
• iPod format
• digg

Photo

Lisa Willis scored 20 points in just 21 minutes in UCLA’s 92-54 victory over UC Irvine on W

After receiving tough news off the court earlier in the day, the UCLA women’s basketball team was able to take care of business on the court. Despite officially learning that freshman guard Ashlee Trebilcock was transferring just four games into her career, the Bruins clobbered the UC Irvine Anteaters, 92-54, in what was a complete team effort on both ends of the court. As a team, the Bruins (3-2) were able to set the tone of the game right from the very beginning, as the Anteaters (0-5) were always a step behind. Before two minutes had eclipsed in the first half, the home team had opened up a 9-0 lead and the Bruins opened up the second half on a 7-0 run as well. “We have all five starters returning and they take a lot of pride in how we’re gonna start the game,” UCLA coach Kathy Olivier said. “I thought we did a pretty good job of sustaining the effort and that was nice.” Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the win was the Bruins’ team rebounding. UCLA’s 65 rebounds more than doubled UCI’s total of 32; 21 of the 65 rebounds were offensive rebounds. After losing the rebound battle 52-27 in a loss to Brigham Young University last week, the Bruins have outrebounded all three of their opponents since then in victorious efforts. “It’s good to see that our work in practice and our rebounding drills are finally paying off,” sophomore forward Lindsey Pluimer said. From an individual perspective, UCLA got everything it could ask for from the vaunted “Triple Threat.” Senior guard Lisa Willis had 20 points and 8 rebounds in 21 minutes, senior guard Nikki Blue had 13 points and 5 rebounds in 20 minutes, and junior guard Noelle Quinn contributed 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists in the winning cause. For the first time this season, the contributions from the supporting cast overshadowed any individual performance. Pluimer had 9 points and 11 rebounds and Ibekwe had 11 rebounds in just 14 minutes of action. What made the game that much more fun for Olivier was watching eight of her players log double-digit minutes of play. “I would love to be able to do that every game,” Olivier said. “They are all hard workers. The ideal situation is that I get to play all of them all of the time, but that’s not going to happen.” Quinn was the only Bruin to play more than 30 minutes, staying in the game with the second-team to run the offense as the team’s point guard. “On the first day of practice, I was telling people, ‘OK, you need to know this spot,’” Olivier said. “When I got to Noelle, I said, ‘Noelle, you need to know the 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.’ I think it’s even more evident losing a player that gave us depth in the backcourt.”

DRIBBLERS: When Ibekwe scored and was fouled on an aggressive move to the basket with three minutes to go in the game, Olivier jumped up in the air and pumped her fist excitedly. ... It was Willis’ 22nd consecutive game with a double-digit scoring output.