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Senior guard Nikki Blue (center) pushes the Bruins up the court during their 95-59 route of Peppe

Just before the tipoff of the UCLA women’s basketball game against Pepperdine on Friday, Noelle Quinn was arriving on the scene.

The standout junior guard had finished a final exam only moments before warm-ups, and she sprinted across campus to Pauley Pavilion.

As her teammates were preparing for one of their final non-conference games of the year, Quinn threw on her UCLA jersey and tied up her shoelaces just as the No. 22 Bruins took the floor.

She then proceeded to lead the scoring with 24 points in a performance highlighted by alley-oops and no-look passes that got the home crowd hollering.

It was that kind of an evening for UCLA in a seemingly effortless 95-59 drubbing of the Pepperdine Waves.

“Those kind of wins are fun and they don’t come around so often,” Bruin coach Kathy Olivier said. “Everything was clicking for us and we were playing with a lot of confidence.”

The Bruins played what Olivier characterized as a “very loose game” fueled by their sheer physical dominance over the Waves. Running the full court press that baffled its opponents, UCLA forced key turnovers that resulted in easy transition lay-ups.

After a number of games in which they played sluggishly in the first half, the Bruins (5-3) rattled off an 8-0 run within the opening minutes of the game against the Waves (1-6).

Playing with a comfortable cushion for most of the second half, Quinn and senior guards Lisa Willis and Nikki Blue made a few acrobatic plays that illustrated the relative ease of the win.

With 8:08 remaining in the game, Blue took the ball up court and saw Quinn posting up her defender. Quinn’s eyes grew and she gave Blue a slight head nod. After spinning around her defender, Blue lobbed the ball near the rim and Quinn made the lay-up to finish a dazzling alley-oop.

“Sometimes you have to give the fans some excitement,” Quinn said, laughing. “The game was pretty well in hand, and we were having a good time out there.

“The chemistry between me, Nikki and Lisa is so good right now that we know exactly where each one will be and can play on instincts.”

UCLA built a 46-25 lead at the half, and was able to give significant playing time to role players as the starting five got a chance to watch the game from the sidelines.

It didn’t appear to matter who was playing for UCLA, as the second and even third unit outplayed the starting five of Pepperdine.

While high-fiving teammates and her coach as the clock ticked down, Quinn was able to sit back and reflect on a frenetic day of finals and foul trouble that ended smoothly.

“I had a lot of fun watching my teammates come in off the bench and make some plays, because they don’t always have the chance to do it during a game,” Quinn said.

WILLIS ON A STREAK: Willis scored 20 points while shooting 8-13 from the field. It was her fifth time this season registering 20 or more points, and her 35th straight game with at least 10 points.

OREN GIVEN A SCARE: With 2:31 remaining in the second half and the game momentum on UCLA’s side, senior guard Ortal Oren collided at half-court, fell awkwardly and injured her neck. For precautionary measures, Oren was carted off the court on a stretcher.

Oren, whose parents flew in from her native Israel to attend the game, was released from the hospital later that night after tests came back negative. Her availability for the upcoming games is still questionable.