UCLA Women Take a Tumble at Oregon State

If someone would have even dreamed this a few weeks ago, they would have been asked to apologize: Oregon State finishes ahead of UCLA in the Pacific 10 Conference women’s basketball race?

Believe it. It could happen.

The Bruins, still stuck in a swan dive off the top of the conference, were blown out, 72-52, by the Beavers before 2,137 Saturday night at Gill Coliseum. It was UCLA’s and fifth loss in its last eight games.

Both teams have undergone stunning turnarounds.

UCLA (15-9, 9-5 in the Pac-10) began the conference season 6-0. Oregon State (14-13, 10-5) started the season 4-10 but is now 10-3 in the stretch run and has won three in a row.

The Beavers zipped past the Bruins in the standings, into fourth place, on the strength of a collapsing zone defense that shackled not only All-American center Maylana Martin, but every other Bruin as well. No UCLA player scored double-digit points. Martin, who had 39 in a loss at Oregon on Thursday, finished with eight.

UCLA’s plunge to the bottom of the tank could send it into the conference’s second division Friday night. The Bruins face Stanford (18-6, 11-3) at Pauley Pavilion, and the Cardinal is coming off a 74-46 victory over Washington on Saturday.

The Bruins were lacking a key player Saturday--guard Michelle Greco sat out because of a deep thigh bruise from a practice mishap. She wasn’t effective Thursday at Oregon and didn’t play at all Saturday.

Nevertheless, Coach Kathy Olivier didn’t minimize what transpired in a game when, at times, the Bruins, a team ranked fourth in one preseason poll, looked like a cellar-dweller.

“We were horrible,” Olivier said. “We missed Greco tonight. We needed other players to rise up and respond to the situation and none of them did.”

Oregon State suddenly has gone from a team on life support to a sophomore-dominated program with a future. If the NCAA selection committee overlooks its low RPI rating, the Beavers could even make the tournament this season.

“Hopefully, the [selection] committee, if we can win out, will take a long look at us and see that we play an exciting game,” Coach Judy Spoelstra said.

Oregon State’s swarming zone defense during two long stretches pitched a shutout. From the 8:53 mark, when Erica Gomez made a three-point shot to give UCLA a 45-44 lead, the Beavers didn’t surrender another field goal for nearly eight minutes, when Takiyah Jackson made a three.

But by then, with 1:09 left, Oregon State led 67-47. And the Beavers pinned an 8-0 run on UCLA over the last five minutes of the second half to grab a 27-24 halftime edge.

The Beavers received a major boost from 5-foot-9 sophomore Felicia Ragland, who in 39 minutes had 14 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and six steals. And 6-4 senior center Sissel Pierce blocked four UCLA shots and had 21 points and seven rebounds.

Martin’s eight points lifted her career number to 2,005--but no one was celebrating.