Jordin Canada leads women’s basketball to 71-52 win over UCSB
Junior point guard Jordin Canada took over when the Bruins needed her most, scoring 23 of her 30 points in the second and third quarters – times when the UCLA offense stagnated. (Jennifer Hu/Daily Bruin staff)
By Reed MacDonald
Dec. 15, 2016 3:18 p.m.
Sometimes basketball is simple.
In what would eventually be a 71-52 win over UC Santa Barbara (2-7), No. 9 UCLA (8-1) figured out in the second quarter what the game plan would have to be.
It wasn’t complicated and it mostly involved junior point guard Jordin Canada, who ended up with 30 points, one shy of a career high.
The turning point came in the second quarter. After the Bruins had shot out to a 13-point lead they went cold and the Gauchos capitalized, going on a 15-2 run as the Bruins couldn’t seem to find any offense.
In the middle of the second, the Gauchos drove the ball into the paint and Canada quickly snatched at it, causing a jump ball. Canada was animated, stomping her foot and demanding aggressiveness from her teammates.
Coach Cori Close called a timeout, and was enthusiastic in the huddle. The Bruins came back out, and Canada rallied the team, personally scoring eight points in a row to put the Bruins back ahead. She came back out after halftime and scored nine of the team’s next 13 points.
“I knew we were in a drought, we hadn’t scored,” Canada said. “They were going on a run. I just thought at that moment it was time for me to take over the game. I created some space for myself to get open and attack the basket.”
Out of Canada’s 30 points, 23 came in the second and third quarters, when the Bruin offense was at its most anemic.
“I’m really, really glad that we have a point guard that can do that, but I’m really disappointed that she had to,” Close said. “I’m obviously really proud of Jordin and her skill set, her mentality, her confidence, her playmaking ability, but the reality is that we need to minimize the ways that she has to do that.”
Though Close was disappointed in the necessity of Canada’s offensive outburst, it was one that no one on UCSB could contend with.
“She made the run,” said UCSB coach Bonnie Henrickson. “For a young lady that is so athletic and so skilled, she still is able to get an athletic defender off balance. That’s so much of what she does.”
Canada’s go-to move is the head fake that she uses to get defenders in the air before driving by them. When that doesn’t work, she hesitates before crossing the ball over. If the defender is still in the neighborhood, Canada will pivot around under the basket, pump-faking until she gets even the slightest opening before putting the shot up.
All of it worked on Wednesday.
In the third quarter, Canada had a rare dribbling miscue, bouncing the ball off her foot. She picked it up and passed the ball away before immediately demanding it back and hitting a 3-pointer. She seldom shoots 3-pointers, but hit one of the paltry two the team would make all game.
The Gauchos couldn’t get to the basket, rarely having any success against the Bruins’ long backcourt and junior forward Monique Billings’ athleticism in the frontcourt as they finished the game with 23 turnovers. Their scoring came in bunches, nothing matching the second-quarter run that would initially force the Bruins on their heels.
It was fitting that the game was defined by the play of a point guard. Close was Santa Barbara’s point guard in the ’90s. After graduating she returned as an assistant coach for the team and worked on recruiting.
Close didn’t mention any of that to the team before the game, saying that she didn’t want the game to be about her. It may not have been, but she did have a point guard that refused to let her coach lose to her alma mater. Sometimes that’s all you can ask for.
