Slow Start Again Beats UCLA Women

UCLA women’s basketball team has, in this young season, established a practice that is new to Pauley Pavilion: Coming from behind and not winning.

The Bruins last week spotted Texas A&M; a 19-2 lead, came back with a second half scoring flurry only to lose, 79-63. Wednesday night they worked from the same tired script.

UCLA (2-3) appeared lifeless in the first half, revived remarkably in the second, and still lost to Texas Tech, 58-54, in front of 200 in Pauley Pavilion.

“This has been our pattern,” UCLA Coach Billie Moore said. “Don’t ask me why. The only thing we have to do is learn how to play 40 minutes. We just don’t step on the floor ready to play. We struggle on offense.”

At times, the Bruins seem to be fighting themselves on offense. They are a young team that has has not played together enough to have much cohesion. “Only one player, Anne Dean, has been in the program more than one year,” Moore said.

Sort of true. Dora Dome, a sophomore from Fairfax High School, played behind Jackie Joyner last season--that translates into no playing time at all.

Dome has made up for lost time. When the 5-foot 10-inch guard gets in the game, things happen for UCLA. Of late, fouls often happen. Dome is a bruising player, but she, alone among the Bruins, it seems, can score. Dome poured in a game-high 17 points Wednesday night, all of them in the second half.

“You have to give credit to UCLA,” said Tech Coach Marsha Sharp. “After getting off to a poor start shooting the ball they really came back with the outside shots in the second half.”

The Bruins came within two points several times in the second half, but lapses dropped them down by eight, 45-53, with 4:44 left in the game. Despite points from Dome and Dean (who finished with 10 points) the Bruins’ comeback again fell short.

UCLA was dismal in every respect in the first half. Their inexperience showed. Guards were charging down court while their teammates were still looking for rebounds at the other end. Shots weren’t falling (the Bruins shot 30% in the first half), opposing players weren’t covered and, most costly, UCLA committed 12 turnovers.

Dana Childs scored first for the Bruins, 2 minutes and 25 seconds into the game. That was the extent of the Bruins’ offensive output until Childs hit again more than five minutes later. Meanwhile, the Red Raiders (3-1) had fast-breaked to a 17-4 lead with 12:02 left in the half.

The Bruins’ leading scorers had dry nights with no help from the bench. Until Dean hit two in a row with less than two minutes to play in the first half, no Bruin starter had shown any spark whatsoever.

Dean’s four points, and Jaime Brown’s jumper from the left side with one second left, capped a mini-drive for UCLA. Texas Tech held a 23-17 halftime lead.

Tech’s Camille Franklin, a guard from Las Vegas, was responsible for the only animation in the stony crowd. Franklin had packed the house with some 30 relatives from the Los Angeles area. They were easy to spot--they were the ones clapping.

Tricia Clay and Julia Koncak each scored 13 points to lead the Red Raiders.