Unforced errors cost women’s basketball a top-10 matchup against Stanford
Senior guard Darxia Morris attempts to dribble past Stanford sophomore forward Joslyn Tinkle. UCLA lost to Stanford 67-53 Sunday at Pauley Pavilion.
Women’s Basketball
Stanford 67
UCLA 53
By Chris Chen
Feb. 22, 2011 2:31 a.m.
UCLA wasn’t short of scoring opportunities Sunday afternoon against the Stanford Cardinal, but when presented with them, the Bruins’ shots fell flatly off the rim.
Early in the second half, senior guard Doreena Campbell pushed the ball ahead to redshirt sophomore forward Atonye Nyingifa, who had an unimpeded path to the basket.
Except the shot sailed completely over the rim.
Campbell also made a few quality interior passes to junior forward Jasmine Dixon, but a combination of Stanford’s frontcourt length and size hurried Dixon’s attempts. Dixon finished 3-of-13 from the field, as the Bruins were held to a miserable 31 percent shooting.
In a game that marked the first time since 1999 that Pauley Pavilion hosted a matchup between two top-10 teams, the No. 9 Bruins (22-3, 12-2 Pac-10) bowed out to the No. 3 Cardinal (24-2, 15-0) down the stretch in a 67-53 defeat.
“When you play a decent team like Stanford that is very crafty in their game plan, we knew that Jasmine wasn’t going to be a big factor because she is somebody that commands that double team,” UCLA coach Nikki Caldwell said. “It fell back onto guard play to answer that call, and we fell short in that regard.”
At the outset, the Bruins, who were seeking to add to their school-best start of 22-2, played off of the crowd’s intensity and work efforts of senior guard Darxia Morris.
In a 20-second span midway through the first half, Morris took a charge at midcourt then buried a corner 3-pointer to help the Bruins gain a 23-22 edge.
The crowd turned every Bruin defensive hedge into a frenetic trap, forcing Stanford to uncharacteristically turn the ball over nine times in the first half.
“The first half we didn’t play our best; we made some mistakes offensively and defensively and we had to pick it up,” Morris said. “When it came to the second half, our game plan was to keep our defense in sync and not really extend it.”
But in the second period, it was the Bruins’ turn to be flustered on both ends of the court.
Sophomore forward Markel Walker missed two open jumpers, as did Nyingifa.
“We had some looks at the basket from our guards and you’ve got to knock those down,” Caldwell said. “You have to make layups. We blew probably 20 layups as well.”
Those missed open opportunities and unforced errors from the Bruins helped the Cardinal build its lead, and the home team was never able to recover.
Morris and Dixon tried to force the issue, pounding the ball into the paint, but to no avail.
“Actually coming in, I had the mindset of two or three Cardinal jerseys on me, so I just had to buckle down and pass to the open (person),” Dixon said.
This strategy was stifled by the combined defensive presence of Stanford’s freshman forward Chiney Ogwumike and senior forward Kayla Pedersen.
The Cardinal then turned into the aggressor, and Pedersen, Ogwumike and senior guard Jeanette Pohlen joined forces in a crisply-played second half to turn a potential nail-biter into a comfortable Stanford win.
