Bruins End on a Low Note

There were still more than nine minutes to go. But UCLA had moved out to a six-point advantage, was playing Purdue even everywhere on the floor, and the Bruins had to think they were set to break the game open.

How could they know that their scoring -- and their season -- would dry up?

But that’s what happened. UCLA would score only three more points over the final 9:11 and Purdue bolted to a 61-54 victory in the second round of the NCAA women’s tournament.

It was the lowest point total for UCLA (21-11) this season and it happened at the worst possible time, with a Sweet 16 date against North Carolina, top seeded in the Cleveland Regional, hanging in the balance.

But the fifth-seeded Bruins had their six-game winning streak stopped because Purdue (26-6) was determined to keep the score low at all cost.

“We felt if we kept it the 60s we had a chance to win. We kept it in the 50s and did just that,” Purdue Coach Kristy Curry said.

The fourth-seeded Boilermakers, who had four players in double figures, led by Katie Gearlds with 15, played as physically as the referees would allow and never let the Bruins get running.

They withstood 18 points by Nikki Blue and 15 points by Lisa Willis. They also held UCLA’s leading scorer, Noelle Quinn, to nine points (and 10 rebounds).

Purdue forward Erin Lawless had 14 points and nine rebounds.

Even though things slipped away over those final nine minutes, UCLA Coach Kathy Olivier had an idea where the game was lost.

“I thought we did a lot of positive things,” Olivier said. “[But] they got to the free throw line 19 times [making 14] and we got there six times [making four]. Noelle Quinn, an All-American candidate, gets to the line zero times. That’s tough.

“I’m going to be one of the loudest people talking about neutral courts. But I’m not going to take anything away from Purdue while I’m doing that. They did a great job. But the crowd was extremely supportive and that’s what home court does.... I just look at this game and see the free throws. That stands out more than anything.”

Purdue is 13-1 at Mackey Arena this season.

A defensive tone was set from the beginning. After 10 minutes the teams had made only seven of 34 shots combined and would not get much warmer. UCLA shot 32.8% overall, and Purdue 33.8%.

The Bruins scratched out a 26-24 halftime lead, and seemed to understand this would be a grind-it-out affair. “They were doing a very good job of taking away the wings,” Quinn said.

Still, UCLA -- seventh in the nation in scoring at 78.2 points a game -- had to believe it would produce one of those withering runs that had deflated Arizona State and Stanford in the Pac-10 tournament, and Bowling Green in Sunday’s first-round NCAA game.

Instead, the opposite occurred.

“I don’t think our team hit a wall,” said Blue, who also had five assists in her final game for UCLA. “We were still aggressive -- sometimes too aggressive -- and we took the shot into players but didn’t get a foul call. But we kept on fighting, and battled to the end.”