Lemons bars spur oh-so-sweet win

Monday, February 22, 1999

Lemons bars spur oh-so-sweet win

RECAP: Martin leads Bruins to 82-64 victory over injury-plagued
USC

By Jeff Kmiotek

Daily Bruin Staff

Maylana Martin had plenty of reason to single-handedly bury the
Trojans 82-64 on Saturday. The junior forward, who scored 26 of her
career-high 38 points in the second half, was battling to keep the
Bruins in a first-place tie with Oregon in the Pac-10. She was
competing to extend UCLA’s win streak to four games over crosstown
rival USC. And most importantly, she was playing for lemon
bars.

"They’re really good. Assistant coach Pam Walker always makes
sweets, and my favorite is lemon bars," said Martin. "She told me
before the game, that ‘If you play well, I’ll have lemon bars after
the game.’"

And lemon bars she got. In fact, Martin’s performance was worthy
of lemon bars for life. She was the catalyst in the second half,
sparking the Bruins to erase a two-point halftime deficit and
outscore USC by 20. Martin made 13 of her 19 field goals and tied a
career-high with 18 rebounds – eight on the offensive glass. She
also played some defense, finishing with four steals and a
block.

"She wanted the basketball and nobody was stopping her. She has
such an impact on what we do offensively," said head coach Kathy
Olivier.

But what the Bruins did offensively in the first half was to
play sloppily and miss 23 of their 34 field goal attempts. UCLA
(20-6, 11-2 in Pac-10) trailed by as many as six points and was
never ahead. Although USC also shot poorly from the field (9 of
31), they nailed 18 of 22 free throws to hold the lead.

"We had them on the ropes in the first half. They weren’t
handling anything we were doing defensively," said USC head coach
Chris Gobrecht. "We were in it for the whole second half.
Unfortunately, we didn’t seem to realize we were in it."

The Women of Troy (7-16, 3-11) were forced to start three
freshmen, as the team has been completely depleted by injuries.
Four potential starters have suffered season-ending injuries during
the course of the season. And the injury bug stung again in this
game, as guard Camille Norwood was lost to an injury three minutes
into the second half.

"Our heart was just not what it has been. It’s very
disappointing. This was the game we wanted to show up for," said an
emotional Gobrecht.

"I don’t care who you are, if you’re the Bruins or anybody. Let
anybody else go through what this team is going through and let me
see what kind of shape they’d be in. It wouldn’t be much," she said
as tears formed in her eyes.

But the Bruins aren’t feeling any sympathy. They’re just glad
they pulled out the victory in a well-played second half.

LaCresha Flannigan came off the bench to score 12 points,
including eight of UCLA’s first 10 points in the second half. Erica
Gomez finished with four assists, leaving her just nine shy of Ann
Meyers’ career UCLA record.

"We’re starting to get back to the team we were. We had a lot of
spark today," said Martin.

And most of that spark can be attributed to Martin herself.

"Maylana put that team on her back and carried them," said
Gobrecht.

"She looked good," added Olivier. "It was the hungriest I’ve
ever seen her, that’s for sure."

Hungry for victory. Hungry for lemon bars.

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