UCLA Easily Stuns Georgia, 84-64

In its first two games, UCLA had played pretty well and pretty indifferently, and lost both. On Friday, the Bruins played great and handily upset No. 11 Georgia, 84-64, in the first game of the Loyola Marymount Thanksgiving Classic.

They go on today to face Charlotte, an 82-74 winner over Loyola Marymount.

In stunning the Bulldogs (2-2), the Bruins did what was expected. They ran their high-octane offense efficiently -- all five starters were in double figures, led by Lisa Willis with 27 points -- and once they set the tempo, they never let it get away.

But it was the other things UCLA (1-2) did -- for instance, rebounding. After getting beaten off the boards by BYU (52-27) in Pauley Pavilion on Tuesday, UCLA had a 37-31 edge on Georgia. On defense, the Bruins put the clamps on sophomore forward Tasha Humphrey, the Bulldogs’ leading scorer, holding her to 13 points; she averages 22. Senior guard Sherill Baker led Georgia with 16.

The win “was definitely a good feeling and not one we were familiar with yet this year,” said Willis, who made 11 of 16 shots and had seven rebounds. “We considered this a bounce-back game. We knew we had to play better, and that’s what we emphasized in practice. Coach said if we do what we did in practice, we’ll come out victorious.”

Added Noelle Quinn, who scored 13 points and led UCLA in rebounds with nine, “Rebounding was definitely our focus in practice; boxing out, getting position. And we carried it over into the game.”

The score was only 31-25 and still within Georgia’s reach with five minutes left in the first half before UCLA put on the first of two large spurts. The Bruins closed out the half on a 15-5 run, punctuated by Nikki Blue’s 15-footer at the buzzer. UCLA then opened the second half on a 12-2 run to blow open the game, 58-32. The Bulldogs never got closer than 18 points the rest of the way.

-- Mike Terry