Bruins lose Pitts to knee injury, game to Baylor

Elizabeth Newman
Published: Wednesday, December 25, 2002

A seemingly safe first half 11-point lead vaporized Thursday night for the women's basketball team, and unfortunately transformed into a 12-point loss as UCLA fell to Baylor 89-77 at Pauley Pavilion.

"The first half we made good decisions doing what we needed to do," said head coach Kathy Olivier. "The second half, they just ran through it and we didn't sustain our fire."

Freshman forward Julia Pitts was taken out in the first half and later diagonsed with a sprained left knee, which certainly didn't help the team. The more efficient Lady Bears offense countered the Bruins' press with many clean drives to the basket.

"We might have surprised them initially," said senior guard Michelle Greco. "But in the second half they were just doing too good of a job of finding that open person."

Baylor sophomore guard Stephanie Blackmon certainly did an excellent job of making herself available offensively, as she shot 10 for 15 from the field in addition to 13 rebounds.

UCLA freshman guard Nikki Blue again led the Bruins in scoring with 26 points but could not save her team's shooting percentage, which dropped from 51.4 percent in the first half to 39.3 percent in the second.

The loss of Pitts is especially troubling. The freshman trio of Pitts, Blue, and Lisa Willis account for almost half of UCLA's points this season and the three trail in scoring only behind Greco.

"(Pitts) was a big part of what we were doing," said Olivier. "She was playing very good basketball and was a great option on the inside. (Her injury) doesn't look good."

The Bruins' did have some positives to build on before their next home game Saturday against Cal State Northridge. Junior forward Jamila Veasley topped the Bruins rebounding with six total and UCLA garnered 20 points off turnovers compared to Baylor's eight. UCLA's offense looked aggressive from beyond the arc with 25 three-pointers attempted, and six of 12 players making at least one.

Coach Olivier, however, knows what needs to happen for this team to turn its current 4-4 record around.

"We need to play 40 minutes of basketball, not 25 or 30. It's hard, losing three in a row. Today was a wake-up call."

Hopefully the Bruins will pick up the phone.