Oregon sends off Bruin seniors with victory
By Daily Bruin Staff
March 3, 1996 9:00 p.m.
Oregon sends off Bruin seniors with victory
W. hoops has eye on third place in Pac-10 conference
By Melissa Anderson
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The four seniors of the UCLA women’s basketball team checked out
of Pauley Pavilion in style Saturday afternoon, as the Bruins
handed the University of Oregon an 83-64 defeat.
Playing inspired basketball from the opening moments, UCLA
(13-12 overall, 8-8 Pacific 10) went on a 12-2 run to start the
game and never looked back.
Led by senior Kisa Hughes, whose game-high 19 points helped the
Bruins fend off an 8-0 second half run by the Ducks (17-10, 9-8),
in which they pulled to within three with 13:08 to play, UCLA shot
a lofty 70.4 percent in the second half compared to Oregon’s 39.4
percent.
"I looked at the bench and I could see it in their eyes, they
were determined to win this game," UCLA head coach Kathy Olivier
said. "Even when Oregon went on that run (in the second half), they
never quit, they just came right back."
They never showed any mercy is more like it.
Over the next eight minutes, the Ducks seemed to stand by and
watch as the Bruins built a 66-49 lead with under six minutes to
play. The 19-5 run was sparked by sophomore Tawana Grimes, who
dished out three of her eight assists and two steals in this
stretch, capped by a jumper from the right wing that gave UCLA a
17-point lead.
Senior Zrinka Kristich (14 points) gave the Bruins their biggest
lead of the afternoon, 72-51, off a fast break layup at 3:05, and
then watched as the Bruin barrage continued right up until the
final buzzer, when Hughes hit a jumper with four seconds remaining
on the clock.
While most of the day’s attention had been focused on the
seniors, Oregon keyed on freshman Erica Gomez, who turned in a rare
double-double performance in assists (10) and turnovers (11). The
point guard scored just five points, all of which came in the
second half.
"We’re used to seeing Erica Gomez get a double-double," Olivier
said, "but for her to do it in assists and turnovers is very
unusual."
UCLA continued to hit the boards well Saturday afternoon,
outrebounding the Ducks by a 39-30 margin.
Looking to give all of the seniors some time on the hardwood,
the Bruin blowout couldn’t have come at a better time. Back-up
guard Ricarda Kuypers came off the bench to score five points while
fellow senior Allison Arredondo hit a three down the stretch in her
final Pauley Pavilion performance.
"It was great (to leave Pauley with a win)," Kuypers said. "But
we want to go to the tournament. At the start of the season, we had
two goals – beat ‘SC and get into the tournament. And I think we
still have a shot."
While it may be a slim shot if that, two wins in their final two
conference games at the Washington schools this week could move
UCLA into sole possession of third place in the Pac-10, possibly
high enough to garner a post-season bid. And although the Bruins
have compiled an 11-3 record at home, they have run into trouble on
the road this season, going 2-9 in unfriendly territory.
"We’re going to have to make the state of Washington our second
home next weekend," Olivier said.
SUSIE CHU/Daily Bruin
Kisa Hughes scored a game-high 19 points to lead team to
victory.
While most of the day’s attention had been focused on the
seniors, Oregon keyed on freshman Erica Gomez.
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