BYU Makes Things Tougher for UCLA

The future may be brighter for the UCLA women’s basketball team when Nicole Kaczmarski and LaCresha Flannigan return to the lineup. The present remains bleak.

UCLA fell to 0-4 with a 68-53 loss to Brigham Young in the Cougars’ home opener Saturday at Provo, Utah.

Freshman forward Heather Cheesman led BYU with 16 points and six rebounds and senior center Caroline Beus added 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds.

The Cougars (1-1) had a slim five-point 33-28 advantage at halftime but were able to extend the lead to as much as 15 points early on in the second half. BYU’s largest lead was 19 points.

BYU’s strong defensive effort held off the Bruins to just nine points in a six-minute span midway through the second period.

UCLA’s Michelle Greco led all scorers with 24 points and also tied a career high with eight rebounds. Point guard Natalie Nakase had a career-high six assists.

However, no other Bruin had more than seven points. Kaczmarski is sidelined with a foot injury and Flannigan isn’t due back for three more games as she regains her academic eligibility.

The Bruins shot only 33% from the field. BYU made 25 of 53 shots.

No. 23 Xavier 84, Loyola Marymount 68--Taru Tuukkanen had 19 points and three teammates scored in double figures to lead the No. 23 Musketeers over the host Lions in the Loyola Marymount Thanksgiving Classic.

Reetta Piipari, the tournament most valuable player, scored 16 points and added eight assists for Xavier (3-0). Nicole Levandusky added 14 points and Tuukkanen finished with 10 rebounds.

Xavier, which led 35-23 with six minutes remaining in the first half, saw the lead cut to seven at halftime but broke the game open in the second half.

Bryn Britton and Kate Murray each scored 23 points for Loyola Marymount (2-1).