UCLA’s Streak at Seven After Victory Over Texas

UCLA’s game plan was simple Saturday night and Texas was helpless to stop it.

Maylana Martin scored 21 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as the eighth-ranked Bruins dominated Texas under the basket for an 81-74 victory.

The Bruins (7-2) scored 58 points in the paint by continuously exposing cracks in the Texas defense under the basket despite their four top players picking up four fouls each.

Forward Marie Philman scored 16 points for UCLA and center Janae Hubbard added 12 as the Bruins made 57% of their shots. They attempted only three three-pointers.

“We never really have problems scoring,” said Martin, a junior forward who made eight of 11 shots, including two critical baskets in the final 1:31 that helped squelch a Texas rally.

The Bruins, who will take a seven-game winning streak into their game against No. 2 Tennessee on Monday night at Knoxville, have been held to fewer than 81 points only once.

Texas (4-4) had the scenario it wanted with UCLA’s foul troubles but couldn’t capitalize. UCLA point guard Erica Gomez, second in the nation in assists with an average of 9.25 per game, had eight against Texas despite playing only 28 minutes.

“We were never able to stop them on defense,” Texas’ Vanessa Wallace said.

Most importantly, Texas could do nothing to stop the 6-foot-3 Martin and her teammates from moving under the basket to score.

The Longhorns got little production out of their tallest players up front, 6-2 forward Tracy Cook and 6-4 center Rashunda Johnson. The freshmen combined for five points and two rebounds and forced Texas to play a smaller lineup.

“We were pretty disappointed obviously with our inside game, it was pretty much nonexistent early,” Texas Coach Jody Conradt said. “You expect certain people to play a certain combination on the floor and you don’t get production, and you’re scrambling around trying to make adjustments.”

Texas fought back from a 61-48 deficit to pull to within 73-69. But UCLA used a 6-0 run, including consecutive baskets by Martin, to stretch its lead to 10 in the final minute.

Texas’ Edwina Brown scored 11 of her team-high 17 points in the second half before fouling out.

“Texas kept coming back,” UCLA Coach Kathy Olivier said.

Kim Lummus scored 14 points and Asha Hill had 11 for the Longhorns, who made only 39% of their shots.

The winning streak is the Bruins’ longest since a similar spurt in the 1992-93 season.

“We are a team who needed to know we can win on the road,” Olivier said. “We stayed together.”

OTHER GAMES

No. 2 Tennessee 98, Stanford 62--Tamika Catchings scored 23 points at Knoxville, Tenn., to lead the Volunteers (8-1) over the Cardinal (4-6), which missed 15 of its first 16 shots.

No. 3 Purdue 71, No. 4 Louisiana Tech 65--Stephanie White-McCarty scored 25 points to lead the Boilermakers (7-1) over the Lady Techsters (8-2) at Indianapolis.

No. 5 Georgia 94, Sacramento State 48--Tawana McDonald scored 18 points to lead the Lady Bulldogs (9-0) over the Hornets (1-6) in the Boise State Christmas Classic at Boise, Idaho.

No. 6 Notre Dame 83, South Florida 63--Danielle Green scored a game-high 16 points to help the Irish (8-1) overtake the Bulls (7-4) at Tampa, Fla.

Illinois 97, No. 13 Florida 77--Susan Blauser scored 29 points and Alicia Sheeler had 28 points and 18 rebounds to lead the Illini (5-4) over the Gators (9-3) at Champaign, Ill.

No. 17 Duke 94, North Carolina Asheville 27--The Blue Devils (8-4) cleared their bench with 10:55 to play against the Bulldogs (0-10), who made only seven of 50 shots at Durham, N.C.

No. 23 Kansas 68, Tennessee Martin 56--Lynn Pride and Jaclyn Johnson scored 14 points apiece to lead the Jayhawks (8-3) over the Skyhawks (5-3) in a tournament at Seattle.

No. 24 Memphis 81, Austin Peay 73--Tamika Whitemore scored 30 points to help the Tigers (8-1) rout the Governors (1-7) at Clarksville, Tenn.