W. basketball gets convincing
By Daily Bruin Staff
Jan. 19, 1995 9:00 p.m.
W. basketball gets convincing
win against Sun Devils, 85-64
Nikki Hilbert scores 16, grabs six boards as UCLA wins
easily
By Hye Kwon
Domination would be the most appropriate word to describe the
85-64 beating the UCLA women’s basketball team administered to
Arizona State on Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion.
The Bruins (7-7 overall, 2-3 Pac-10) took control of the game in
the early going, as they went on a 24-6 run in the first seven
minutes. Five different UCLA players scored during that run,
including forward Kellie Bennett, who led the charge with eight
quick points.
"I thought Kellie started off really well," UCLA head coach
Kathy Olivier said. "She was very active and you could tell that
she was ready to play."
Sophomore guard Nikki Hilbert also displayed her scoring prowess
as she poured in a team-high 12 first-half points. Along with
Bennett, Hilbert helped the Bruins shoot a blistering 73 percent
from the floor in the first half. UCLA led Arizona State 48-25 at
intermission.
"One thing that we really focused on tonight was turnovers,"
Olivier said. "I thought we did an excellent job taking care of the
ball."
The start of the second half was pretty much the same story. The
Bruins begin with a 12-5 run and increased their lead to 24 points.
For all intents and purposes, the refrigerator door was pretty much
slammed shut on the Sun Devils (7-6, 1-3) at that point.
With 10 minutes go to in regulation, UCLA built up an
insurmountable 35-point lead. From that point, the Bruins were a
garbage time away improving their conference record to 2-3.
A couple of ASU players did look impressive in their losing
cause. Tiffany Krahenbuhl scored 18 points while Molly Tuter
accumulated 22 points.
One aspect of the Bruin offense that was nearly impeccable on
Thursday night was the inside play. The Bruin frontline pounded the
Sun Devils all night, and the undersized ASU frontcourt players
simply had no answer to UCLA center Kisa Hughes. She sat down early
in the second half to rest her sore shin, but not before tallying
12 points and eight rebounds.
Reserves Zrinka Kristich, Allison Arredondo and Laura Collins
all contributed significantly. The trio combined for 19 rebounds
and 22 points and helped the Bruin frontcourt to outscore their Sun
Devil counterparts 53 to 9.
The only thing that the Bruins showed weakness in was freethrow
shooting. They shot an abysmal 33.3 percent.
"Our freethrows are hurting us right now," Olivier said. "It
should be an advantage when you go to the line, but we’re
struggling there."
***
The Bruins better not expend too much energy to celebrate the
win against Arizona State, because come Saturday, they must take on
Arizona at 2 p.m. at Pauley Pavilion.
Arizona (7-9, 2-2) is coming off a 85-54 loss to USC on Thursday
night. Senior guard Jacinda Sweet is the only returning starter,
but with a fast-paced style of play, the young Wildcat team has
caused a lot of trouble for its opponents.
"Arizona likes to run and they’ll get the ball and shoot it
right away," Olivier said. "We’re probably have to pay a little
more attention."
The leading scorer for the Wildcats is freshman sensation Adia
Barnes. The 5-foot, 11-inch forward is averaging 16.4 points and
8.2 rebounds per game. In conference play, however, Barnes has been
averaging 22 points.
"We’re focused and you can totally tell," Olivier said. "And
when we’re focused, we can play with anybody."
