UCLA
Oregon
No. 10 Bruins Beat Ducks, 87-57
January 15, 2011 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 15, 2011
LOS ANGELES (AP and Bruin staff) - No. 10 UCLA came out energized and motivated against one of the nation's top scoring teams today in Pauley Pavilion.
Markel Walker led five players in double figures with 14 points and the Bruins defeated Oregon 87-57 Saturday, winning their fifth in a row while holding Oregon to a season low in points.
Doreena Campbell added 13 points, Darxia Morris and Atonye Nyingifa 12 each, and Jasmine Dixon 11 for the Bruins (15-1, 5-0 Pac-10), who continued the program's best start since the 1976-77 team opened 18-1.
"We came out wanting to make a statement..," Nyingifa said. "Our defensive pressure was so strong that just motivated us."
Amanda Johnson scored 12 points for the Ducks (11-5, 2-3), who was swept on their road trip after losing to Southern California 79-76 on Thursday.
They came in averaging 76.4 points in coach Paul Westhead's famed run-and-gun offense that he successfully employed with Loyola Marymount's men's team in the late 1980s and early '90s.
But UCLA's pressure defense forced 31 turnovers and harassed the Ducks into 21 of 54 shooting.
"They came out shooting and with confidence," said Jasmin Holliday, who had four points and six turnovers for the Ducks. "We were challenging them to shoot the shots and they were making them. Their press really got to us and slowed us down, which we're not used to."
It was the most points scored by the Bruins this season; they had been averaging 64.8. They shot 53 percent from the floor and controlled the boards, 43-32.
"We came out with fire," Campbell said. "We came out with such energy and it just escalated all the way down the bench."
UCLA has won 13 regular-season Pac-10 games in a row, with its last loss coming against Stanford last January. The Bruins visit the No. 4 Cardinal on Thursday in a matchup of teams tied for first in the league.
Oregon's 45-18 deficit at the break was the largest the Ducks have faced this season, while their 18 points were their fewest in a first half this season.
"If you're turning the ball over, you're not getting a shot to make or miss. We didn't create good enough offense," Westhead said. "They trap you and put you in tough positions. They got a nice lead and it was hard to even dig into it."
UCLA raced to a 17-6 lead, then extended it to 37-13 with 18 unanswered points by five different players. Walker had a 3-pointer and a three-point play in the spurt as the Ducks went 6 1/2 minutes without a basket.
The Bruins continued building their lead in the second half, going up by 37.
