UCLA
Notre Dame
No. 15 Bruins Knock Off No. 12 Notre Dame, 86-83 In Double OT
November 18, 2010 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 18, 2010
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -UCLA senior guard Darxia Morris scored five points in the second overtime and came up with a big steal in the final seconds to help No. 15 UCLA beat No. 12 Notre Dame 86-83 on Thursday night.
Junior forward Jasmine Dixon had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Bruins (3-0). Morris added 17 and sophomore Markel Walker 16.
Skylar Diggins led Notre Dame (2-1) with 22 points and Natalie Novosel added 19 in a contest which saw 12 ties and 18 lead changes in all.
Morris opened the second extra period with a 3-pointer and Dixon had a basket as the Bruins went up 84-81.
With the Irish trailing by one, Novosel missed two at the line with 8 seconds left before Walker misfired on two at the other end.
Notre Dame called timeout with 4.2 seconds remaining, but Morris stole the inbounds pass and hit two from the line. The Bruins finally wrapped it up when Diggins' long attempt was off at the buzzer.
Novosel hit a follow-up shot with 8.9 seconds left in the first overtime to give the Irish a 79-77 lead, but UCLA got the ball down the floor and Dixon got a nice pass from Walker for a layup with 1.9 seconds remaining.
Morris also sank a tying 3-pointer with 8.8 seconds remaining in regulation. Diggins then missed a short shot just before the buzzer, sending the game to overtime.
UCLA used 14 points from sophomore guard / forward Walker to take a 41-37 lead into the locker room at halftime. In the early going the lead changed hands eight times and was tied four times before UCLA converted eight of its 10 shots from field in a first half stretch which upped a 15-14 lead at the 12:15 mark to 32-22 with 6:03 remaining in the half.
Notre Dame's Diggins then helped lead the Irish back into the contest, scoring eight of Notre Dame's points during a 14-5 run which sliced the Bruin lead to one at 37-36 with 1:54 on the clock. UCLA then scored four of the final five points of the half to go into the break with a four-point edge.
It was just the second time a UCLA women's team has played a double overtime contest. The first game was also against Notre Dame which came away with a 93-91 decision in Pauley Pavilion on Nov. 30, 1997. UCLA is 12-9 in all overtime games.
Bruin senior guard Doreena Campbell collected her 1,000th career point in the contest. Her jump shot at the 8:01 mark of the first half pushed her past the milestone and handed UCLA a 26-17 lead at the time. Campbell is the 24th Bruin women's player to reach the 1,000-point mark. She finished with eight points and seven assists on the night.
UCLA will return home on Sunday to meet UC Davis (2-0) which has opened the season with wins over San Francisco and Washington State. Game time is 2 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion.
