UCLA Women Stifle Clemson, Win 83-52

Unless you’re a top five team or schedule softly, you don’t know when an easy game will come up on the schedule.

So UCLA will gladly take the comfortable night it had in blowing past Clemson, 83-52, in front of 639 at Pauley Pavilion.

With No. 4 Texas arriving Sunday, Coach Kathy Olivier could not have scripted a better outing for her team, now 2-1.

An aggressive, trapping defense flustered the Tigers into 32 turnovers and a 17-for-58 shooting performance. UCLA broke the game open with an 18-2 run in the final eight minutes of the first half to lead 42-20 at the break, and expanded that lead to as many 34 points in the second half.

Olivier substituted freely and didn’t need critical minutes from point guard Nikki Blue, who is still getting over a sprained ankle.

“I really liked our defense,” Olivier said. “I feel we have a quick team, and after the TCU loss I saw a need for us to get going earlier in the game. I believe our defense can do that for us.”

Indeed, the Bruins’ fast hands and instincts overwhelmed Clemson (1-2), which too often dribbled more than necessary or showed the ball to UCLA even when trapped by two and sometimes three defenders.

“It may have looked easy, but it really wasn’t,” said UCLA forward Noelle Quinn, who led the Bruins with 23, followed by 18 points from Lisa Willis.

“Clemson is a good team, and they are an [Atlantic Coast Conference] team, which is a very good conference. They played hard even after we got the big lead.”

Rebounding was the only category in which the Tigers, led by Tasha Phillips with 11 points, had an edge (48-44). More often than not they seemed frustrated by their inability to properly set up their half-court offense or complete an interior pass to someone other than a UCLA player. The Bruins finished with 22 steals.

And even with the big lead, UCLA kept its mind off Sunday’s showdown against the Longhorns.

“We knew we couldn’t think about anything but this game,” Quinn said.

-- Mike Terry

SOUTHLAND MEN

Loyola Marymount 83, Northern Colorado 51 -- Matthew Knight scored 20 points and Brandon Worthy 11 for Loyola Marymount in Greeley, Colo.

Marymount (2-0) shot nearly 55% from the field, 60% from three-point range in the first half.

Northern Colorado (0-4) struggled, shooting 37%.

WOMEN’S TOP 25

No. 7 Stanford 67, Louisiana Lafayette 47 -- Kelley Suminski scored 13 points, and the Cardinal (4-0) won the Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage.

No. 20 Boston College 74, Quinnipiac 43 -- Jessalyn Deveny scored 16 of her 22 points in the opening 9 1/2 minutes for Boston College (2-1) in its home opener.

No. 23 Louisiana Tech 88, Mississippi 70 -- Lakiste Barkus scored 23 points, and Tasha Crain had 19 for Louisiana Tech (1-0), which outscored Mississippi (1-1) 54-32 in the second half in Oxford, Miss.