UCLA Holds Off Long Beach

In a season where victories have been scarce, UCLA got a needed 77-73 win over Long Beach State Tuesday night before 924 at the Pyramid.

Shalada Allen carried the Bruins (7-15) with a career-high 20 points, making 10 of 14 shots from the field.

“I had no idea I made that many,” said Allen, who scored 10 points in each half. “There were some openings in the middle of their defense and I just took the shots.”

But UCLA, which came in shooting 61% from the free-throw line, made 12 of 13 foul shots.

The biggest were by Whitney Jones, whose two free throws with 14 seconds left were the final points.

“Hopefully we made some strides tonight,” said Bruin Coach Kathy Olivier, whose team surpassed last season’s win total (6). “We had talked today about doing the little things like rebound and making free throws. If we shoot free throws like we normally do, we might lose.”

The 49ers slipped to 11-10. Crystal Givens led Long Beach State with 18 points.

Long Beach State, which fell behind by 10 points in the second half before a late rally, may have cost themselves a chance to tie or win the game in the final seconds.

With UCLA leading, 75-71, and 27 seconds to play, Tamara Inoue (14 points) was fouled while shooting a three-point shot. She made her first two free throws but intentionally missed the third one trying to catch the Bruins by surprise. But UCLA got the rebound and hung on to win.

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Mike Terry