Yamasaki, Stanford Defeat UCLA on Final Shot, 87-84

Lindsey Yamasaki, in the doghouse to start the game, finished it in the penthouse Friday night, making a three-point shot with 3.8 seconds left to give Stanford an 87-84 victory over UCLA before 3,930 at Pauley Pavilion.

The 6-foot-2 freshman, the latest in a long line of big-time Stanford recruits, didn’t start because she violated a team rule--she didn’t carry her uniform and game shoes onto Stanford’s flight south, checking both as luggage instead.

“Lindsey’s forgiven,” Stanford Coach Tara VanDerveer joked after her team had handed UCLA its second loss in three games. The Bruins, 18-6 overall, 10-2 in Pacific 10, fell into a tie with Oregon in the conference standings.

Stanford (13-9, 9-2) played physically early in avenging an 80-72 loss to UCLA at Palo Alto last month. The Cardinal put 6-6 Carolyn Moos to good use inside, and she helped take UCLA out of its inside offensive game.

Stanford was led by its only senior, six-foot Regan Freuen, who had a career-high 34 points, 18 in the first half.

Melanie Pearson made a rim-rattling three-pointer for UCLA to bring the Bruins--who had trailed at halftime, 51-39--to within two, 83-81, with 1:34 left.

After Stanford’s Enjoli Ezidor made a free throw, Pearson got a putback to make the score 84-83.

UCLA’s LaCresha Flannigan, who finished with 22 points, drove the lane and was fouled attempting a layup with 26 seconds left. She made one of two to forge an 84-84 tie.

During the ensuing timeout it was determined, VanDerveer said later, that Stanford would work for the final shot, and that the shooter would be Yamasaki or Freuen.

It was Yamasaki, and she was a good two feet behind the three-point line when she shot.

Yamasaki came into the game leading Stanford with a 14-point average, the same as Moos. Her suspension from the starting lineup lasted two minutes four seconds--when VanDerveer put her in.

“I had no idea how far out I was, I wasn’t thinking about that,” said Yamasaki, an All-American for two years at the nationally prominent prep program at Oregon City, Ore.

“We just wanted to be sure we didn’t turn it over, that we got the game’s last shot, definitely.”

It was a bitter loss for UCLA Coach Kathy Olivier.

“I’m concerned . . . that we would lose to them at home,” she said.

“They have big people up front and we like to score in the paint, and they disturbed us inside.”

Stanford has won six in a row since losing to UCLA and is probably the Pac-10’sbest team right now.

“This was a great confidence-builder for us. I don’t think I’ve ever had a team work as hard as this one has,” VanDerveer said.

OTHER GAMES

USC 76, California 71--Freshman guard Tiffany Elmore scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds to help the Trojans snap a seven-game losing streak in the Pac-10 game at Lyon Center.

The Trojans (7-14, 3-9 in conference) outrebounded the Golden Bears, 50-36, and displayed a balanced scoring attack.

Sophomore forward Tashara Carter recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds and junior forward-center Tiffany Washington had nine points and 13 rebounds. Senior center Adrain Williams, returning to action after missing five games because of a right ankle injury, chipped in with 14 points.

“We got it done on the boards. We kept getting the second shot with good offensive rebounding, and it made the difference in the game,” USC Coach Chris Gobrecht said.

California fell to 8-12, 2-9.

No. 2 Purdue 76, No. 15 Penn State 74--Katie Douglas scored 21 points, including the winning layup with 10 seconds remaining in overtime, as the Boilermakers clinched the Big Ten title at State College, Pa.

Douglas also hit a tying jumper in the closing seconds of regulation in helping Purdue (22-1, 13-0) win its school-record 20th consecutive game.

Ukari Figgs added 21 points and Stephanie White-McCarty 17 as the Boilermakers defeated Penn State (18-6, 10-4) for the fifth straight time.

No. 11 Virginia Tech 67, Massachusetts 51--Lisa Witherspoon had 19 points for the Hokies in an Atlantic 10 game at Amherst, Mass.

Trailing, 31-30, Virginia Tech (22-1) went on a 10-3 run in the first 6 1/2 minutes of the second half.

Massachusetts was held to 13% shooting in the second half.

No. 22 UC Santa Barbara 83, Long Beach State 71--Erin Buescher scored 35 points and had seven rebounds for the Gauchos (18-3, 10-0 in the Big West Conference) at Long Beach.

Rhonda Smith scored 16 points and Charel Bailey added 13 for the 49ers (12-9, 6-4).