Short Answer: UCLA Has Surprise for USC

Wasn’t it just the other day when some wondered if the UCLA women’s basketball team was headed toward an 0-18 Pacific 10 Conference record?

That changed quickly Sunday afternoon after a surprising second-half surge carried the Bruins--winless for more than a month--to a 65-53 upset of USC before 4,010 at Pauley Pavilion.

The Bruins, who had lost six in a row and were 1-12 before tipoff, outplayed and outhustled the Trojans during a 40-23 second half in which they were led by one of the shortest players in the women’s game, Natalie Nakase, who conceded she is generously listed on UCLA’s roster as 5 feet 2.

The Bruin sophomore point guard’s performance helped drop favored USC to 5-8 overall and 0-3 in the Pac-10. The Trojans have lost six in a row.

UCLA improved to 2-12 and 1-2 in conference, thanks to three amazing plays by Nakase, plus Michelle Greco’s game-high 23 points.

During UCLA’s 16-1 blitz midway through the second half, Nakase made back-to-back jump shots and then fooled USC with a drive down the lane, taking her team from a 43-39 deficit to a 45-43 lead.

When asked about being vertically challenged after Sunday afternoon’s upset, Nakase responded: “I’m 5-1. Well, OK, 5 and a half [inch].”

The problem for the Trojans was that she apparently wasn’t showing up on their radar screen.

In 37 minutes, Nakase had 11 points, five assists and five steals. She was four for seven on field-goal attempts and three for four on free throws. Plus, she showed that 5-0 1/2 isn’t too short to fight. With 9:45 left, she dived on the floor for a loose ball and ended up following through like a light-flyweight boxer, punching away with USC’s Aisha Hollans.

UCLA Coach Kathy Olivier praised her point guard afterward, showing media members assorted bruises on Nakase’s arms.

“Natalie did a great job--she has the ball 90% of the time in our offense and she did a wonderful job not only setting up stuff for us but masking what defense we were in too,” Olivier said.

A half-hour after the game, USC Coach Chris Gobrecht was still yelling at her team, behind closed doors, and there was reason for the high volume.

The Trojans have better athletes than UCLA does. But on Sunday UCLA played at a much higher energy level while Gobrecht’s players seemed to drop into cruise control after leading for most of the first half and taking a 30-25 edge at halftime.

USC’s last lead was 51-50, with 5:38 to go. The Trojans scored only once after that.

Shortly after 51-50, Greco made four consecutive free throws to boost the Bruin lead to 56-51. Greco is the conference’s leading scorer and its best free-throw shooter. She’d made 20 in a row until she missed her first free throw midway through the 16-1 run.

“This [victory] was huge for us,” Greco said.

“Now we feel like we’re on a roll, going against the Arizonas.”

UCLA and USC play host to the Arizona schools Thursday and Saturday.