UCLA Women Deliver After a Slow Beginning

The No. 10 UCLA women’s basketball team registered its sixth consecutive rout in Pacific 10 play and surged to a two-game lead in the conference race with an 83-60 victory over Oregon State on Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion.

The Bruins (12-4, 6-0) started slowly against the Beavers (7-11, 3-3) before 1,218, not even leading until the middle of the first half, but achieved their first surge late in the half.

As Maylana Martin, the All-American senior center, said afterward: “We couldn’t get in a groove early, but once we did we got some easy baskets when we started running the floor well.”

In the immediate aftermath, it seemed UCLA’s seventh consecutive victory had set up a major clash Saturday afternoon at Pauley with Oregon, which shared the Pac-10 championship with UCLA last season.

Moments later, however, came word that USC had beaten Oregon, dropping the Ducks to 4-2 in the conference.

No one knew quite what to make of it. Martin, who had 16 points and eight rebounds to go with two assists, two blocked shots and two steals in 32 minutes, chose to recall last year’s 106-79 loss at Eugene, when UCLA was 9-0.

“I watched the tape of that game the other day and it wasn’t a case of both of us playing well and them playing a little better,” she said. “We were awful. I mean, we were walking up the court.”

Another Bruin leader was senior forward Marie Philman, who was five for seven from the floor and had 10 points, including key layups when UCLA made its first run late in the first half. She attributed it all to her point guard, Erica Gomez, who had nine assists in 27 minutes.

“If I’m running my lanes properly, Erica shotguns it in to me,” she said. “I feel pressure not to blow the layups because she won’t pass it to me the next time down. I think our preseason schedule against all those tough teams really prepared us well for conference. Also, we had people in and out with nagging injuries but we’re really playing well together.”

For guard LaCresha Flannigan, who scored 11 points Thursday, Oregon means an opportunity for revenge.

“Shaq [Oregon junior Shaquala Williams] got 31 off me up there last year when they kicked our butts,” she said. “I’m looking for revenge.”

UCLA stumbled several times at the start, letting Oregon State lead for most of the early going.

The first surge came with 3:51 left in the first half when UCLA went from 29-29 to 39-33, thanks largely to a Gomez pull-up jumper and a fastbreak layup.

From there, UCLA got a 41-37 halftime lead and then really spurted early in the second half. The Bruins moved from a 45-42 lead to 58-44, a run guided and nurtured by Gomez’s superb floor game, which included a brilliant assist pass to Philman on a breakaway. Philman, who finished with 10 points, had six points during the run, Martin five.

The Bruin lead reached 72-52 when Gomez sank a three-point basket with 5:05 left.