UCLA
Cal (Pac-10 Tournament)
UCLA Defeats California, 80-63, In Pac-10 Tournament
March 04, 2006 | Women's Basketball
March 4, 2006
San Jose, Calif. - UCLA advanced to the semifinals of the State Farm Pac-10 Women's Basketball Tournament with an 80-63 victory over California at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. Four Bruins were in double-figure scoring, with double-doubles from Noelle Quinn (18 points/10 rebounds) and Nikki Blue (14 points/11 assists).
The Bruins shot 53% from the field and forced 23 California turnovers, with a Pac-10 Tournament record 20 steals. Blue added yet another Pac-10 Tournament record to her resume, tying the record with 11 assists. Lisa Willis was one steal shy of Blue's Tournament steals record, finishing with seven. Willis also had 14 points, and Chinyere Ibekwe added 10 off the bench to join Quinn and Blue in double-figures.
Cal led 5-3 to start the game, but UCLA went on an 8-0 run to take an 11-5 lead that it never relinquished. Cal made a run in the second half, using a 6-0 run to close to within eight, 50-42, with 13:05 on the clock, but Willis stopped Cal's momentum by burying a three-pointer. Willis' three jump-started a 17-4 Bruin run that gave UCLA a 67-46 lead and put the game away. UCLA led by as many as 22 points, 75-53.
The Bruins received 21 points off their bench, led by Ibekwe's 10 and Ortal Oren's eight. In contrast, Cal had just two points off the bench, and all five starters played 36 minutes or more. Blue and Lindsey Pluimer were UCLA's only two players to log 35 or more minutes.
Devanei Hampton led California (18-11) with 23 points and 14 rebounds. Alexis Gray-Lawson was Cal's only other double-digit scorer with 13 points, but she also had nine turnovers.
UCLA (18-10) will face Arizona State in Sunday's semifinal. The game will take place at 3 pm and will be televised live on Fox Sports Net. The Sun Devils rallied from a halftime deficit to beat Oregon State, 74-66.
