No. 10 Bruins Keep On a Roll With 94-53 Win

The numbers keep getting bigger for the UCLA women’s basketball team . . . and smaller for USC’s.

The 10th-ranked Bruins won their eighth game in a row Saturday afternoon, 94-53 over USC, ran their Pac-10 record to 7-0 and did it before a crowd, 9,530, that was just shy of being the biggest in Pacific 10 Conference women’s history.

But here’s the big number Kathy Olivier’s team wants: 18-0.

“We’re good enough to do that,” forward Marie Philman said.

“If we did it, then we’d be finishing strong, going into the tournament peaking at just the right team.”

For USC, somebody has installed the hex.

When Saturday’s game ended, the Trojans were down to eight players.

Another starter, Adrain Williams, went down because of an injury Saturday, the fourth starter this season. Williams, USC’s leading scorer (16.4 points a game) and rebounder (9.1), appeared to sprain an ankle with 12 minutes left in the first half. She didn’t return.

This, one day after the team lost all-Pac-10 point guard Kristin Clark because of knee surgery, and after losing backcourt starters Kiyoko Miller (shoulder) and Erica Mashia (knee) earlier.

“Just when you think it can’t get any worse, it does,” Trojan Coach Chris Gobrecht said.

“No one should have to go through this. I’ve coached 20 years and never heard of a team go through anything like this.

“I appreciate the fact UCLA didn’t press us in the second half. For the sake of my kids, I hope they get some perspective on what they’re going through. They’re playing hard, they know their day will come.”

But not this year. Three USC freshmen played 21 or more minutes Saturday, on an afternoon when UCLA’s offense shot 75% in the first half and 68% for the game.

Even when the 6-foot-4 Williams was in the game, UCLA ran up early leads of 12-3 and 22-12.

When Williams left, Carly Funicello, LaCresha Flannigan and Maylana Martin led an 8-0 burst that made it 30-12. It was 49-20 at the half and 70-32 with 11 minutes left.

UCLA had another great game from point Erica Gomez. She ranks third in the NCAA in assists and had five more Saturday. She set up Philman and Martin twice, and those two were a combined 12 of 13 from the field.

Flannigan was six of seven from the field.

There were several thousand school kids in the crowd, in on freebies as part of UCLA’s “I’m Going to College Day.” It’s believed the record Pac-10 women’s crowd is 9,738 at Eugene, Ore., for a 1996 Oregon State-Oregon game.

“Our players loved it,” Olivier said, “looking up and seeing all those people. . . . it was fun, great atmosphere.”

How could nearly the same group of players be so much better than this time last season?

“Last year, we’d go into a slump that would go on for games,” Martin said. “This year, two possessions and we can solve it.”

As for 18-0 talk, wait a minute, Olivier said.

“We’re still trying to outjump people under the boards instead of clearing out space and getting position,” she said.