Bruins Scorch Cougars, 104-70

UCLA moved back into a first-place tie with Oregon in the women’s Pacific 10 Conference basketball race on the strength of a school-record shooting performance Thursday night.

The Bruins shot 69.5% from the field and Maylana Martin had 23 points to highlight a third straight blowout victory, this time a 104-70 verdict over Washington State before 570.

Even with Washington State’s Tricia Lamb knocking down three three-point shots in the first four minutes, there was little suspense about the outcome midway through the first half.

And UCLA (21-6, 13-2 in conference) did it with two starters out for significant minutes. Center Janae Hubbard had two fouls in the first three minutes and didn’t play the rest of the half, and guard Erica Gomez turned an ankle late in the first half and didn’t play after halftime.

Martin was coming off a 38-point effort against USC in which she was 13 for 19 from the field. Thursday, she was nine for 11, with 10 rebounds and five steals.

Washington State Coach Harold Rhodes has seen UCLA with and without Martin. Last month at UCLA, the Bruins won, 100-70, with Martin out because of recurring headaches.

“She’s so tough inside with the ball,” Rhodes said. “Then she goes outside and starts hitting jumpers.

“She hurts you so much inside, then [guard LaCresha] Flannigan kills you from outside. . . . What’re you gonna do?”

The Bruins shot 63.6% in the first half, 76.9% after halftime, and outrebounded the smaller Cougars, 43-18. Flannigan was eight for 10 from the field, including three for four from three-point range. Hubbard was four for four from the field and Michelle Greco six for eight.

“We’ve got very good shooters and when they get easy looks, like they did tonight, they’re effective,” UCLA Coach Kathy Olivier said.

UCLA plays at Washington Saturday, and co-leader Oregon is at Oregon State tonight.

Martin seemed to take UCLA’s marksmanship against the Cougars in stride, but fretted over her team’s perimeter defense.

“All those threes--we’ve got to work on that defensively,” she said.

Lamb finished the game six for nine from beyond the arc.

Washington State (10-15, 4-12) fell behind early. A 22-2 spurt gave UCLA a 31-16 lead.

The Bruins led at the break, 49-32, and boosted their advantage to 65-40 with a run ignited by Flannigan and finished by Greco with a nifty drive.

UCLA has won three straight and 13 of its last 15. Washington State has lost seven of its last eight.

Washington 74, USC 54--The Trojans shot only 29% from the field in losing the Pac-10 game at Seattle.

USC (7-17, 3-12) was led by Adrain Williams with 12 points and 12 rebounds. The Trojans made nine of 37 field-goal attempts in the first half and were 22 for 75 in the game. The Huskies (13-12, 9-7) made 30 of 60 shots and were led by guard Jamie Redd with 19 points.