Bruins dominate in Washington

Friday, January 29, 1999

RECAP: Team capitalizes on Husky shooting woes en route to 90-53 victory

By A. CinQue Carter

Daily Bruin Staff

Marie Philman stole the ball and pushed it up the court. She passed the ball to teammate LaCresha Flannigan, who made a layup for a 46-37 Bruin advantage.

About three minutes later, Flannigan threw her body into the passing lane and batted the ball down court.

After retrieving it she made an acrobatic pass to Philman, who converted a layup on the other end, giving the Bruins a 55-42 edge.

That is how much of the second half went during UCLA's victory over the University of Washington (9-8, 5-3 Pac-10). The Bruins continued their Pac-10 domination of women's basketball by exploding in the second half of a 90-53 contest.

Junior forward Maylana Martin missed the game due to severe migraines (as the doctors continue to try to discover the root of the problem). And junior center Janae Hubbard, despite scoring 12 points on six of eight shooting, played only 14 minutes due to early foul trouble. She actually fouled out.

"I just want to see May(lana) get better," Bruin coach Kathy Olivier said of her leading scorer and rebounder.

"May's our emotional leader and we miss her out there. Janae has to make (the opposing team) shoot over her and she has to avoid swinging so much. She knows we need her on the floor," she added.

After trailing 34-32 at halftime, the Bruins came to life. The Bruins opened the half on a 10-0 run fueled by Philman and Flannigan that basically put the game out of reach.

Then they added an 11-2 run including a lay up, three-pointer and jumper from Flannigan and an 11-0 run with nine points by Flannigan and a three-pointer by junior Melanie Pearson, who kept the Bruins close in the first half hitting two momentum-shifting jumpers.

"LaCresha's a big part of what we're doing right now," said Olivier of her shooting guard, who played only five minutes and went scoreless in the first half due to foul trouble. "Her quickness and her anticipation on defense are just great."

Added Flannigan, who scored a game high tying 24 points, "We needed to pick it up defensively in the second half. And our defense creates offense. So that was the difference of the halves."

Finally the Bruins closed out the game with a 19-2 run which featured two layups and two assists from junior point guard Erica Gomez, who finished with 10 points, a team-high 10 rebounds and a game-high seven assists.

"Erica's done an amazing job all year," Olivier added. "She's definitely been getting the ball to the right people."

One of those people was Philman, who matched Flannigan with 24 points. Philman and Flannigan also had five steals each to lead the Bruins' 22-steal attack that forced 31 Husky turnovers.

"We just had a lack of focus and a lack of intensity," senior Washington guard Jamie Redd said of her team's second half. "We killed ourselves tonight."

Part of that process of Husky suicide was their second half shooting percentage. After intermission, Washington had a mere .171 field goal percentage. Redd managed to shoot only two of 15 for 10 points, while fellow senior forward Amber Hall managed only five second-half points for a total of 13.

"We broke down in the second half," said Hall, who grabbed 12 boards and continued to be the only player in the conference to average a double-double. "We didn't execute as we did in the first half. A good team will pounce on that. And UCLA is a good team."

The Bruins have now won nine straight games and hold a two-game advantage in the conference over second place Oregon (6-2). They also continued their hot streak from the free throw line, shooting 83.3 percent.

"The team's working hard," Olivier said, "and they're not letting things bother them. Our free throw shooting has been a huge change for us as a team. For us to shoot over 80 percent, that's great. And they look like they're really having fun and that is what is important."

Unfortunately, just five days after destroying USC in front of a record crowd of 9,530, most Bruin fans took the night off, as only 760 showed up.

After the USC game, Olivier thanked the multitude for fans for showing up and "pumping her team up."

Those fans will get another chance to come support the Bruins when the team host Washington State on Saturday at 4 p.m.

DERRICK KUDO

Freshman guard Michelle Greco helps

the Bruins to a 90-53 victory over Washington.

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