UCLA women’s basketball beats Arizona State in battle
Doreena Campbell coached the Bruins in their defeat of ASU Thursday night.
By Kendall Salter
March 4, 2010 9:43 p.m.
With the Bruins struggling to put away a scrappy Arizona State team, coach Nikki Caldwell made a move to shake things up. She handed the coaching over to junior point guard Doreena Campbell.
“She knows the game of basketball so well,” Caldwell said. “This is their team, their season, their year. They really responded to her direction in the huddle and believed in what they were doing.”
During the first 10 minutes of the game, the Bruins looked well on their way to another comfortable win. UCLA cruised out to a 14-1 lead, holding the Sun Devils without a field goal for more than nine minutes. But Arizona State had other ideas. After reasserting themselves on the defensive end with physical pressure, the visitors tore off on a 22-8 run, taking the lead with 1:52 remaining in the half.
“The frustration comes because this team is much better than it showed,” Caldwell said. “They’re a much better team. We’ve got to be ready to play for 40 minutes.”
The teams entered the locker room tied at 23.
The second half felt like a repeat of the first, with the Bruins using a 15-3 run to open up a 12-point lead. But Arizona State kept fighting back with clutch shooting, free throws and timely defense.
With the Bruins needing a response, guard Darxia Morris stepped up with deft ball-handling and clutch jumpers to keep the home team in front.
“I don’t think I played as well as I could have,” Morris said. “Sometimes I second-guess myself on shots when I’m looking for teammates. But I knew my team needed me and started to make smart plays.”
UCLA would hold on in the end, despite some tense moments. Up two with less than 10 seconds to play, the Bruins turned the ball over on an out-of-bounds play but regained possession on a subsequent turnover by the Sun Devils. Junior guard Erica Tukiainen sealed the win with a pair of free throws.
But it was the coaching of Campbell that stabilized the team, helping them overcome another litany of turnovers. UCLA lost possession 22 times but was able to get back into the offensive flow late.
“It was a cool opportunity,” Campbell said of being able to guide the team. “We did this in practice, too. We had a couple of bad practices, and that carried over into the game. So coach let us make our own plan. What I basically did was run the plays the coaches always run, but we started talking more, communicating more.”
Star sightings
The stars were out in Pauley Pavilion Thursday night. Denzel Washington, a friend of Caldwell’s, spoke to the team and watched from the student section. Former UCLA guard Russell Westbrook, currently with the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder, was also in attendance.
“It was pretty cool,” Campbell said of Washington’s appearance. “He sort of talked to us like he was the coach from “˜Remember the Titans.’ I guess him and Nikki are buds.”
The Bruins face the University of Arizona in their final home game of the season on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled at 12:30 p.m.
