Bruins Start Quickly to Defeat Illini, 68-56

In its 68-56 victory over Illinois Sunday before 1,077 at Pauley Pavilion, UCLA showed all the things that can be joyous and maddening about being a young team.

The Bruins (2-1) played a sparkling first half where they ran their plays crisply, took smart shots and looked a step ahead of their Big Ten visitors on offense and defense.

In the second half, after building a 20-point lead, the Bruins’ attention span wandered, their offense grew sloppy, they had the bulk of their 20 turnovers, and they almost let Illinois (1-3) come all the way back before holding on for the 150th victory of Coach Kathy Olivier’s career.

“I don’t think it’s about youth, because we can be a good team,” said Olivier (150-140), who is second in wins to Billie Moore (296-181) among Bruin women’s basketball coaches. “We have a lot of people who want to be creative, and sometimes it’s better to just get it done being basic.”

For much of the game the Illini appeared flat and listless. Some of that may have been Coach Theresa Grentz’s decision to bench leading scorer Angelina Williams and leading rebounder Cindy Dallas for disciplinary reasons.

Noelle Quinn (12 points, 11 rebounds) and Nikki Blue (16 points, nine rebounds, five assists) had hot hands early and they propelled UCLA to a 35-22 halftime lead. The Bruins shot 51.7% and outworked the taller Illini on the boards, 23-15. Illinois’ shooters clanged away at 30.3%.

UCLA built its lead to 52-32 with 10:10 to play when Illinois woke up and took off on a 14-2 run over the next five minutes to close within eight points at 54-46. But forward Emma Tautolo, who had a career-high 10 points, helped re-establish the Bruins with a field goal and four free throws.

“I don’t know if it’s my best game, but I felt real comfortable out there,” Tautolo said.

Guard Tiffanie Guthrie led Illinois with 18.

UCLA hopes forward Jamila Veasley, who injured her left shoulder last week against Texas, will be available for the game at St. Mary’s on Saturday. She is scheduled to have more X-rays taken Tuesday.

-- Mike Terry

In women’s top 25 games:

Jessica Moore had 17 points and 14 rebounds to lead No. 1 Connecticut (3-0) over Holy Cross (3-2), 76-42, at Hartford, Conn.... At Honolulu, No. 2 Texas (6-0) beat Montana (1-2), 85-46, in the championship game of the Rainbow Wahine Classic. In the fifth-place game, No. 21 Arizona (3-2) beat Hawaii (1-4), 66-57.... At Knoxville, Tenn., No. 3 Tennessee (2-0) beat No. 17 Notre Dame (2-3), 83-59, the Lady Vols’ 16th consecutive victory over the Irish.... At Durham, N.C., No. 4 Duke (4-1) beat No. 25 Auburn (4-2), 66-57.... At Palo Alto, No. 6 Stanford (5-0) held on after taking an eight-point lead with 1:43 left to preserve its 61-59 victory over No. 10 Georgia (3-1).... Clemson (3-1) surprised No. 15 Rutgers (3-2), 69-64, at Clemson, S.C.