WBBall Drops A Heartbreaker At U$C*, 63-70

Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

Before I go into my recap of the game, I just wanted to make a brief mention of my experience at the game.  About 40 band members went to the Galen (got pretty good seats too) to try and support our team as much as possible.  The team provided us with shirts so we'd be a unified block in the stands, and from what it seemed like during the game, unless USC had just scored a basket, all you could hear was our fans, showing just how pitiful of a homecourt USC has compared to some other schools.  As was noted in the gameday thread, Mike Garret did come up to us telling us to sit down because those sitting behind us paid money to be able to see the game and we were preventing them from doing so by standing during the game.  I'm pretty sure if we were wearing red, he wouldn't have given a damn.

Anyway, on to the game.  The first half and even midway through the second half felt like a repeat cycle of close game, followed by UCLA having a dominating series of possessions back to back to back to take a 7/8 point lead, then USC fighting back, with the aid of some questionable calls from the refs to kill our momentum to draw the game back to a standstill.  With the game tied at 49, UCLA went on a 7-0 run to go up 56-49.  But thanks to a questionable offensive foul call on a Jasmine Dixon layup that would have extended our lead, followed by her 4th foul after that, Jasmine had to take the bench and USC proceeded to go on an 11-1 run to take a 60-57 lead with about 4 or 5 minutes left.  UCLA would keep it to 1 possession all the way down to under 1 minute when UCLA would have to start fouling, and USC made their freethrows for the final spread.

As those of you watch the game already know, the deciding factor in the game today was freethrows.  UCLA continues to shoot abysmally from the line, today going 9-20 while USC shot an astounding 24-27.  What is so frustrating is that despite the fact that the refs kept calling momentum crushing fouls and giving USC  some very questionable calls, we still could have won the game if we just took care of our own business, by making the freebies. Jasmine Dixon was definately a main culprit going 3-10 from the line, while Darxia Morris, normally a good freethrow shooter, missed a critical front end of a 1-1 down the stretch when we were down 1.  Also, UCLA didn't do a good job today of keeping care of the ball, turning it over 18 times to just 11 for USC.

UCLA's poor freethrow shooting overshadowed what was otherwise a very impressive, hard fought effort by the bruins.  UCLA's defense limited USC to 36% shooting, 27% from 3, and outrebounded USC 36-29.  Not only did UCLA shoot a much better 43% on the day, but we were surprisingly the better 3 point shooting team, which has not been the case this season, making 8 of 17 for 47%  I truly believe the reason why so many of us who went to the game today have been in a funk ever since is because offensively and defensively the team played with passion and fire and did what it took to win, but failed at the line.

The Bruins had 3 players in double digits, led by Erica Tukianen's 14, who had a breakout game offensively after being very quiet much of the pac-10 season, and once again showed she is dangerous from the outside, hitting 4-7 from 3 point range.  Darxia Morris finished with 13 and Markel Walker added 11.  Jasmine Dixon and Doreena Campbell finished with 9 and 8 respectively, not having one of their better offensive outings (combining for 5-20 shooting and 10 turnovers). For USC, Ashley Corral and Briana Gilbreath were their two main scorers with 24 and 19, and it seemed like they hit critical shot after critical shot when UCLA was forcing them to take contested shots.

USC's victory gains them sole possession of 2nd place in conference with a 4-1 record.  UCLA (10-6, 3-2) is now tied for 3rd with Oregon.  UCLA will go on the road to play last place Washington State, and then a surprisingly decent Washington team who managed to sweep the Arizona schools at home.  If UCLA can take care of business this weekend, in two games that they really should win, today's loss doesn't have to be a crippling one, though it would have been a nice one to have for sure (especially against a rival).

On a side note, for the poster who asked about who on our team has WNBA potential, that is beyond my realm of knowledge.  I have no idea what the scouting report on them are, nor do i know much about the WNBA or the potential around the nation at other college programs, but I wouldn't be surprised if this team does have 1 or 2 players that down the road could have that potential.