Bruins say 'Aloha' to competition in Hawaii

Published: Tuesday, December 1, 1998

Tuesday, December 1, 1998

RECAP: After slow start to season, hot team extends winning streak

to four at Rainbow Wahine Classic

By A. CinQue Carter

Daily Bruin Staff

The mission was simple.

The point guard must produce more assists than turnovers. The perimeter defenders must not make opponents look like All-Americans, the post must continue to produce and the team must stop playing down to the level of its competition.

The 12th-ranked UCLA women's basketball team had a rough start to its season and needed to turn things around. While being ranked sixth in the pre-season, the Bruins dropped their season-opener to then-No. 17 Notre Dame.

Following that contest, UCLA dropped to 14th in the polls and lost its home opener to then-No. 4 UConn.

"The Notre Dame game woke us up," junior center Janae Hubbard said of the loss. "The UConn game just showed us where we were. We needed to make some changes."

Unranked West Virginia brought a test of a different kind, and the Bruins responded. Knowing virtually nothing about their opponents, the Bruins just played their game and produced a positive result to boost their record to 1-2.

Then came Hawaii and the mission.

The Bruins took part in the eight-team Rainbow Wahine Basketball Classic in Honolulu this weekend. The team, if everything held true to form, would open up against No. 24 Nebraska, play fifth-ranked North Carolina and then play an unranked team for the championship.

But everything had not been holding true to form thus far in the Bruins' season, so no one actually knew what to expect.

Heading into the tournament, junior point guard Erica Gomez had as many turnovers as assists (24). Through three contests, the Bruins had lost to two ranked teams and let a lesser team play them a little too close. The Bruins' perimeter defense was allowing 67 of the Bruin opponents' 96 points per game.

New venue. New attitude. New season.

"In this tournament," Hubbard said of the Classic, "we put it all together. We really played well offensively and defensively, staying intense for both halves. We were on."

In the first round against Nebraska (5-1, 2-1), junior forward Maylana Martin had a team-high 16 points and game-high eight rebounds. And Hubbard chipped in 15 points and five boards as the Bruins dominated the Husker frontcourt in Friday's 85-67 victory.

Junior small forward Marie Philman added 15 points and seven rebounds, combining with Hubbard and Martin to outscore Nebraska's starting frontcourt, 46-9.

Gomez had seven points and 10 assists against four turnovers for the Bruins, who were on fire from the field, shooting .538 (35 for 65) from the field.

Philman, who was seven-of-10 from the field, and Hubbard each had 15 points. Martin and sophomore LaCresha Flannigan (10 points) rounded out the four Bruins in double figures.

Flannigan and freshman Michelle Greco, both reserve guards, combined for 13 points and six points per game in the tournament, and were good for a total of 19 points against Nebraska.

As expected, Nebraska's starting backcourt of Nicole Kubik and Brooke Schwartz shot the lights out. The tandem combined to shoot 50 percent from the field (17-for-34) for a total of 42 points.

Their play earned the Huskers an early 1-6 edge, but a Gomez three-pointer at the 11:08 mark of the first half gave the Bruins an 18-17 lead and UCLA never looked back.

UCLA's Saturday date with the University of North Carolina marked the fourth time the Bruins played a ranked opponent in their first five games.

But it seems that someone forgot to tell the Tar Heels (7-1, 2-1) that life after departed All-American Tracy Reid has begun.

The UNC starting frontcourt of Nikki Teasley, Yanick Clay and Chanel Wright managed to post only 22 points against the Bruins' combination of Martin, Hubbard and reserve Carly Funicello.

Martin, the tournament's Most Valuable Player, powered her way to 30 points and 18 boards. Hubbard, also a first team All-Tournament selection, contributed 16 points and five rebounds for the Bruins in their 88-68 victory over UNC.

Funicello, in her first action since returning a week ago from surgery, dropped in 10 points and grabbed 10 boards against the Heels and averaged seven points and 6.5 boards in 16 minutes of play over the first two games of the tournament.

Gomez had another standout performance with five points and eight assists against only one turnover.

The Tar Heel starting guards combined for 32 points and 21 boards, but led a three-point attack that was futile at most. UNC shot just 2-for-22 from behind the arc.

"I wanted to come out and do something against these guys," Martin said.

"I want to play well against good teams."

Added Bruin head coach Kathy Olivier, "Maylana really came out of her shell. She's been playing well but she hasn't been shooting great. She really came on strong."

In the championship game on Sunday, the Bruins destroyed Kentucky (5-1, 2-1) on the boards. UCLA held a 57-34 rebounding advantage and actually grabbed more defensive rebounds (38) than the Huskers' total rebounding count en route to the 64-54 victory.

Martin and Hubbard crashed the boards and pulled down 14 apiece and Gomez grabbed six to lead the Bruins and extend their winning streak to four.

Besides Hubbard and Martin's total of 20 points, the Bruin perimeter players (Gomez, Philman and Melanie Pearson) combined for 37 points.

Philman led the way with 19 points on eight-of-14 shooting and Pearson had her first double-digit scoring effort of the tournament with 10 points.

Pearson also grabbed five boards to finish with an average of eight points and 5.33 boards on the trip.

"It seemed like we were in a marathon," Hubbard said of the Kentucky contest. "But as long as we stayed two steps ahead of them, they had no chance to catch us."

After taking a 14-point halftime lead (34-20) the Bruins did allow the Wildcats to come within 4 points (51-47) with 4:08 to play - but the Bruins fought them off and closed the game with a 13-7 run.

"(Kentucky) couldn't stop us," Hubbard added. "Our perimeter play just came through. Marie, Melanie and Erica really stepped up and played well."

Gomez, averaging 8.66 assists per game, had her third 10-assist game of the season and has dished out seven assists or more in each contest this season. The junior also finished the tournament with a four-to-one assists-to-turnovers ratio (28-7).

"We're excited that we beat two ranked teams and handed three teams their first losses," Hubbard concluded.

"But being that we're one of the top teams in the nation, we also feel we should be doing that."

And so the mission continues.BAHNAM FARAHDEL/Daily Bruin

Erica Gomez led UCLA to four consecutive wins in the Rainbow Wahine Basketball Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii.

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