Bruins reverse fortune, grind out first win of season

The last time UCLA women’s basketball played the University of Cincinnati was a November day in 1988. Tuesday night, the Bruins were able to leave Pauley Pavilion with not only their first win over Cincinnati in 26 years, but their first win of the season.

The Bruins (1-4) defeated the Bearcats (1-5) 66-58, marking the end of a four-game losing streak to unranked James Madison University, No. 6 University of North Carolina, No. 4 University of Texas, and No 12. University of Nebraska.

The Bruins’ 0-4 record marked the second all-time slowest start in UCLA women’s basketball history, the first being an 0-6 start in 2000. However, unlike the 2000 team, the fresh-faced 2014 team has faced three ranked teams, and still has many challenging games ahead of them.

The Cincinnati Bearcats were a challenge that the Bruins were able to overcome.

Freshman guard Jordin Canada put points on the board for UCLA in the first 30 seconds of the game, but guard Chelsea Jamison answered with two points for Cincinnati shortly after.

All the baskets the Bruins made in the first five minutes of the game were answered by matching baskets by Cincinnati.

After the first media timeout, the battle to break a 7-7 tie was won by UCLA. The Bruins were able to take the lead, and maintain it for the remainder of the game.

The UCLA women performed the best they have all season off the glass, out-rebounding Cincinnati 57-30.

While UCLA had 39 total rebounds against Nebraska, they were able to get 33 in the first 20 minutes versus Cincinnati.

Junior guard Nirra Fields had a career-high 13 rebounds and her second consecutive double-double, while redshirt sophomore guard Kari Korver also pocketed a career-high with eight rebounds, and led the team in scoring with 15 points.

While rebounding numbers were high for the Bruins, turnovers remained a constant problem. The Bearcats were able to force the ball out of UCLA’s possession 17 times.

Yet, coach Cori Close looked at the turnovers in a more positive light, emphasizing that the team also tallied 17 assists.

“I’m really thrilled that we are one-to-one. That is what our goal is: that we are one-to-one on assist-to-turnover ratios,” Close said. “I could have those turnovers down, but I like that we had 17 assists. I don’t want them to be scared to make plays.”

With accuracy percentages low in the first half and balls barely making it through the net, the Bruins were able to gather a newfound energy in the locker room and improved to 41.4 percent in field goals made.

“The biggest thing that took place was that we started to get some steals and some easy buckets out of our press,” Close said. “I have to give a lot of credit to our freshmen who came off the bench … they’ve been major turning points.”

The Bruins showed a broad range of talent, with 10 players scoring throughout the game.

Fields said she recognized the fact that all of her teammates were stepping up to take shots, and that the players initially on the bench became an integral part of the game near the end.

“When my teammates help me out, it makes my job a lot easier,” she said. “We’re sharing the ball more, knowing that we are all capable of scoring, and just trying to move the ball on offense.”

Senior forward/center Corinne Costa emphasized that there are still improvements to be made on offense, and that although the team won, they still have a lot to work on.

“We have to gel the team more,” she said.

While frustration ensued from calls by referees and the game came down to a matter of only eight points, the Bruins were able to hold off the Bearcats and focus on improving both their record and their play as a cohesive unit.

“Today we struggled, but we took care of the things under our control. They need to keep focusing on staying together and growing everyday,” said Close. “You would have thought that we won the national championship today – it feels good for them to be rewarded.”