Bruins say ‘Aloha’ to competition in Hawaii

Tuesday, December 1, 1998

Bruins say ‘Aloha’ to competition in Hawaii

RECAP: After slow start to season, hot team extends winning
streak

to four at Rainbow Wahine Classic

By A. CinQue Carter

Daily Bruin Staff

The mission was simple.

The point guard must produce more assists than turnovers. The
perimeter defenders must not make opponents look like
All-Americans, the post must continue to produce and the team must
stop playing down to the level of its competition.

The 12th-ranked UCLA women’s basketball team had a rough start
to its season and needed to turn things around. While being ranked
sixth in the pre-season, the Bruins dropped their season-opener to
then-No. 17 Notre Dame.

Following that contest, UCLA dropped to 14th in the polls and
lost its home opener to then-No. 4 UConn.

"The Notre Dame game woke us up," junior center Janae Hubbard
said of the loss. "The UConn game just showed us where we were. We
needed to make some changes."

Unranked West Virginia brought a test of a different kind, and
the Bruins responded. Knowing virtually nothing about their
opponents, the Bruins just played their game and produced a
positive result to boost their record to 1-2.

Then came Hawaii and the mission.

The Bruins took part in the eight-team Rainbow Wahine Basketball
Classic in Honolulu this weekend. The team, if everything held true
to form, would open up against No. 24 Nebraska, play fifth-ranked
North Carolina and then play an unranked team for the
championship.

But everything had not been holding true to form thus far in the
Bruins’ season, so no one actually knew what to expect.

Heading into the tournament, junior point guard Erica Gomez had
as many turnovers as assists (24). Through three contests, the
Bruins had lost to two ranked teams and let a lesser team play them
a little too close. The Bruins’ perimeter defense was allowing 67
of the Bruin opponents’ 96 points per game.

New venue. New attitude. New season.

"In this tournament," Hubbard said of the Classic, "we put it
all together. We really played well offensively and defensively,
staying intense for both halves. We were on."

In the first round against Nebraska (5-1, 2-1), junior forward
Maylana Martin had a team-high 16 points and game-high eight
rebounds. And Hubbard chipped in 15 points and five boards as the
Bruins dominated the Husker frontcourt in Friday’s 85-67
victory.

Junior small forward Marie Philman added 15 points and seven
rebounds, combining with Hubbard and Martin to outscore Nebraska’s
starting frontcourt, 46-9.

Gomez had seven points and 10 assists against four turnovers for
the Bruins, who were on fire from the field, shooting .538 (35 for
65) from the field.

Philman, who was seven-of-10 from the field, and Hubbard each
had 15 points. Martin and sophomore LaCresha Flannigan (10 points)
rounded out the four Bruins in double figures.

Flannigan and freshman Michelle Greco, both reserve guards,
combined for 13 points and six points per game in the tournament,
and were good for a total of 19 points against Nebraska.

As expected, Nebraska’s starting backcourt of Nicole Kubik and
Brooke Schwartz shot the lights out. The tandem combined to shoot
50 percent from the field (17-for-34) for a total of 42 points.

Their play earned the Huskers an early 1-6 edge, but a Gomez
three-pointer at the 11:08 mark of the first half gave the Bruins
an 18-17 lead and UCLA never looked back.

UCLA’s Saturday date with the University of North Carolina
marked the fourth time the Bruins played a ranked opponent in their
first five games.

But it seems that someone forgot to tell the Tar Heels (7-1,
2-1) that life after departed All-American Tracy Reid has
begun.

The UNC starting frontcourt of Nikki Teasley, Yanick Clay and
Chanel Wright managed to post only 22 points against the Bruins’
combination of Martin, Hubbard and reserve Carly Funicello.

Martin, the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, powered her way
to 30 points and 18 boards. Hubbard, also a first team
All-Tournament selection, contributed 16 points and five rebounds
for the Bruins in their 88-68 victory over UNC.

Funicello, in her first action since returning a week ago from
surgery, dropped in 10 points and grabbed 10 boards against the
Heels and averaged seven points and 6.5 boards in 16 minutes of
play over the first two games of the tournament.

Gomez had another standout performance with five points and
eight assists against only one turnover.

The Tar Heel starting guards combined for 32 points and 21
boards, but led a three-point attack that was futile at most. UNC
shot just 2-for-22 from behind the arc.

"I wanted to come out and do something against these guys,"
Martin said.

"I want to play well against good teams."

Added Bruin head coach Kathy Olivier, "Maylana really came out
of her shell. She’s been playing well but she hasn’t been shooting
great. She really came on strong."

In the championship game on Sunday, the Bruins destroyed
Kentucky (5-1, 2-1) on the boards. UCLA held a 57-34 rebounding
advantage and actually grabbed more defensive rebounds (38) than
the Huskers’ total rebounding count en route to the 64-54
victory.

Martin and Hubbard crashed the boards and pulled down 14 apiece
and Gomez grabbed six to lead the Bruins and extend their winning
streak to four.

Besides Hubbard and Martin’s total of 20 points, the Bruin
perimeter players (Gomez, Philman and Melanie Pearson) combined for
37 points.

Philman led the way with 19 points on eight-of-14 shooting and
Pearson had her first double-digit scoring effort of the tournament
with 10 points.

Pearson also grabbed five boards to finish with an average of
eight points and 5.33 boards on the trip.

"It seemed like we were in a marathon," Hubbard said of the
Kentucky contest. "But as long as we stayed two steps ahead of
them, they had no chance to catch us."

After taking a 14-point halftime lead (34-20) the Bruins did
allow the Wildcats to come within 4 points (51-47) with 4:08 to
play – but the Bruins fought them off and closed the game with a
13-7 run.

"(Kentucky) couldn’t stop us," Hubbard added. "Our perimeter
play just came through. Marie, Melanie and Erica really stepped up
and played well."

Gomez, averaging 8.66 assists per game, had her third 10-assist
game of the season and has dished out seven assists or more in each
contest this season. The junior also finished the tournament with a
four-to-one assists-to-turnovers ratio (28-7).

"We’re excited that we beat two ranked teams and handed three
teams their first losses," Hubbard concluded.

"But being that we’re one of the top teams in the nation, we
also feel we should be doing that."

And so the mission continues.BAHNAM FARAHDEL/Daily Bruin

Erica Gomez led UCLA to four consecutive wins in the Rainbow
Wahine Basketball Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii.

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