Gomez takes game to another level in Bruin win

Gomez takes game to another level in Bruin win

W. hoops win ends nine-game drought against Trojans

By Emmanuelle Ejercito

Daily Bruin Staff

In its 80-64 victory over USC Saturday afternoon, the UCLA
women’s basketball team accomplished a few amazing feats.

The 3,921 fans at Pauley Pavilion witnessed freshman Erica
Gomez’s first triple-double, an ineffective Tina Thompson, the
Bruins finding their long-lost outside shot and four UCLA seniors
beating USC for the first time in their careers.

Gomez scored 18 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out 10
assists to record UCLA’s first triple-double since the days of
former Bruin standout Ann Meyers 18 years ago.

"Honestly, I didn’t even know I was anywhere near (a
triple-double)," Gomez said. "I wasn’t even thinking about that. I
just wanted to win because we got embarrassed at ‘SC and I said
‘No, this is not going to happen again.’

"I thought that my shot was off in the beginning so I was just
going to try and contribute in other ways … and I guess it just
all came together."

Or maybe she was just showing UCLA head coach Kathy Olivier that
she is committed to taking her game to a higher plane.

"Yesterday at practice we talked about taking her game to
another level even though it is at a very high level right now,"
Olivier said. "She was going to build on this year and we had five
games to go and she said, ‘It starts right here against ‘SC.’ For a
freshman to talk like that – she’s incredible."

In the first half, four points was the biggest margin that
either team could muster. Heading into intermission, the Bruins
took a one point lead after forward Aisha Veasley got a quick pass
from Gomez and laid it up to beat the buzzer.

When the second half began, UCLA took control of the game. To
open up the half, the Bruins set up a play to give Gomez a
three-point shot which she buried. After Gomez threw a bullet to an
open Zrinka Kristich for a lay-up, UCLA was on a 9-0 run and raised
its lead to eight.

Although USC threatened to get back into the game, coming up
with key turnovers and rebounds, the women of Troy could not
convert on the offensive end. And for the rest of the game,
Southern Cal (11-12, 6-8 Pacific 10) got no closer than six
points.

Not even Tina Thompson could save the Trojans. Thompson torched
the Bruins for 49 points in their last meeting, but this time UCLA
contained her to 20 points and seven rebounds.

"Veasley probably did a better job of keeping (Thompson) off the
boards," Olivier said. "But (Zrinka) did a great job of not letting
her get the ball. In the second half we played a lot of zone and
everyone just knew exactly where she was. It wasn’t really one
person, but it was everybody."

When UCLA visited the Lyon Center earlier in the season, USC’s
2-3 zone froze the Bruin offense, limiting it to a 35 percent clip
in the second half. But this time UCLA (11-12, 6-8) connected on
its outside shot, making 50 percent in the game from the field.

A big reason for UCLA’s renewed shooting ability was the
resurrection of guard Nickey Hilbert. In the recent Bruin losses,
Hilbert, the leading scorer for the Bruins, had been producing well
below her normal numbers.

But against the Trojans, Hilbert shot 12-18 from the field on
her way to scoring a career-tying high of 33 points. She also added
seven rebounds and five steals.

The victory ended UCLA’s nine-game drought against the Trojans.
It was especially sweet for the four seniors, Allison Arredondo,
Kisa Hughes, Kristich and Ricarda Kuypers, who had never beaten
USC.

"It was the best feeling ever," Kuypers said. "It’s better than
beating Stanford, I mean ‘SC is the game. This is a lot of payback
especially after we lost so bad the first time. This was our last
chance, everybody was really up for it."

SUSIE CHU/Daily Bruin

Erica Gomez earned the Bruins’ first triple-double of the
season.

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