UCLA Still Has Plenty to Spare

They probably could have made it easier on themselves after establishing a 20-point lead in the first half before their concentration started to waver.

They could have been flashier, the usual collection of no-look passes and Showtime fastbreaks were in short supply Sunday.

But even the toned-down UCLA Bruins (21-10) had more than enough to defeat Bowling Green, 74-61, at Mackey Arena in the first round of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.

It was the Bruins’ sixth consecutive win and 11th in the last 13 games.

Coach Kathy Olivier, who had stressed fundamental play during the Bruins’ practices leading to the game, was happy with UCLA’s 49-31 rebounding edge and the 46.9% shooting (30 of 64).

“I thought we had some signs of very good basketball and signs of rust,” Olivier said. “But to Bowling Green’s credit, they worked extremely hard, they played good team basketball and they gave us their best shot.”

Lisa Willis had 23 points and 12 rebounds, both game highs. Noelle Quinn scored 16 of her 21 points in the first half when UCLA established a 42-28 lead. Nikki Blue, the final part of the Bruins’ “triple threat,” had seven points. But she handed out six assists and spent her time making sure the offense ran smoothly in the team’s first game since winning the Pacific 10 Conference tournament March 6.

“We did tone down a little ... play fundamental basketball, get the jitters out and see where it went from that,” Blue said. “But you have to give a lot of credit to Bowling Green. They slowed the ball down, they were very good in the halfcourt sets. But once we got our transition going, it did open some things up.”

So the Bruins, seeded fifth in the Cleveland Regional, will face Purdue on Tuesday. The Boilermakers (25-6), seeded fourth, had no trouble on their home court in dispatching Missouri State, 73-52.

Bowling Green (28-3) -- which had 16 points and eight rebounds from Ali Mann and 15 points from Liz Honegger -- had its 19-game winning streak ended. It was the Falcons’ first loss since Jan. 2

“It’s been a magical year at Bowling Green,” Coach Curt Miller said. “Certainly nothing can take away from the 28-3 season we had. But the Hollywood ending certainly was with [UCLA] tonight.

“The media talked about the ‘triple threat’ of their three great players. But the triple threat in my mind was we drew an athletic team, a big team, and -- the dagger -- a team that could really shoot. We could have lived with maybe two of those things, but when they shoot the ball as well as they do we had a tough task.”

UCLA was sluggish early, but then took off with seven minutes gone.

They scored 14 points in a row during that run, turning a 15-15 tie into a 29-15 advantage. The lead reached its apex at 39-19 on a three-point basket by Blue, one of a season-high 10 three-pointers the Bruins made Sunday.

“[After] the first five minutes we settled down,” Quinn said. “We focused, moved the ball more and were able to run a little more, which gave us more opportunities and more open looks.”

The Falcons, who shot 36.5%, cut the Bruin lead to 14 points at the half, and shaved it to 50-44 with 13 minutes 58 seconds to play. But consecutive three-pointers by Quinn and Willis got the Bruins out of trouble.

“If we had relaxed [after establishing a big lead] it wasn’t intentional,” Willis said. “We knew they would come out with a sense of urgency because one loss and you go home. They had just stepped it up more than we did. Then, in turn, we stepped it up.”