University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
No. 10 Bruins Down Bears
June 21, 1999 | Men's Basketball
January 15, 1999
OAKLAND, Calif. - UCLA is making believers out of its opponents.
The Bruins, off to their best start in Pac-10 conference play, think they can finish undefeated. California coach Marianne Stanley says it's possible.
"Very much so," Stanley said after No. 10 UCLA defeated the Bears 87-62 Thursday night. "They're just so versatile. Who do you concentrate on?"
Maylana Martin scored 19 points to lead the Bruins (13-4, 5-0 Pacific-10 Conference) to their sixth straight victory.
"We'd love to go 18-0," Martin said. "That's a goal for us. We know we have to play extremely well on the road, but we don't think it's impossible."
Janae Hubbard had 17 points for the Bruins, while Marie Philman added 13 and Erica Gomez had 11 points and eight assists.
Shavaki Jackson scored 12 points for the Bears (6-7, 0-4), who lost their fifth straight and their first at home this season.
The Bruins had a big advantage at the foul line, going 31-of-38, while California was 13-of-14. The Bears also committed 33 turnovers, which UCLA converted into 34 points.
"We did a good job on defense in creating some turnovers," UCLA coach Kathy Olivier said. "You can't overlook Cal. They kept coming at us."
Paige Bowie scored 11 points and Courtney Johnson added 10 for the Bears.
UCLA continued to add to its halftime advantage, scoring the first eight points of the second half to go up 45-27.
The Bears, despite an 11-1 run midway through the second half, couldn't get within 12 points of the lead.
LaCresha Flannigan made one of two free throws with 12:29 remaining to give the Bruins a 56-33 edge, their biggest lead of the game until Sarah Belavic hit a three-pointer in the waning moments for the final margin.
The Bruins never trailed in the game after taking a 17-4 lead five minutes into the contest.
Hubbard, who made all five shots she took in the first half, gave UCLA a 28-12 lead at 8:33, its largest in the half.
Cal's Lauren Ashbaugh made a pair of free throws with 17 seconds left to cut the lead to seven, but Philman's three-pointer at the buzzer put the Bruins up 37-27 at half.
