As the gang proved today, wins don't necessarily have to come at the expense of bitten nails and sweaty palms.
After emerging victors of their past three games via the down-to-the-wire route, the Bruins continued on their roll, this time blowing past Washington State 73-52 at the John Wooden Center. Markel Walker decorated the court in this one, recording the first Bruin triple double in eight years with 14 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists. Then there was Rebekah Gardner, who led all scorers with 21 points on an efficient 8-of-14 shooting. The usual post-game ramblings and musings are below:
A 'W' Clinched in the Second Half
After the game, UCLA head coach Cori Close noted a particularly-telling facet of the game that would make any coach beam with pride.
"More than anything else, I'm proud of our mental growth," Close said. "This was the first game where we finally put the pedal to the metal and kept going in the second half instead of becoming complacent and having lapses in focus. We played for each other and with each other at a higher level today than I've seen up to this point."
The Bruins clearly distanced themselves in that second period, outscoring the Cougars 44-24 in the 20-minute stretch. Credit the results to quicker rotations on defense and more ball movement on offense. The Bruins stymied their opponents to just 21.6% shooting in the second half, all the while repeatedly finding the easy baskets inside (26 of their 38 points from the paint came from the second period).
"The biggest thing was our movement away from the basketball on defense," Close said. "We were late on our closeouts in the first half, but I thought we were much quicker and communicated more in the second half. On offense, we were allowing Washington State's zone defense to push us so far away from the basket, but we adjusted and made a concerted effort to move the ball off the pass and move without the ball."
An All-Around Effort
Sure, the box score shows that every Bruin scored a basket. But even without the stats sheet, the team just looked fluid and invested, particularly again in the second half. The ladies scrapped and heaved for the boards (a 50-28 rebounding margin in favor of the Bruins), made the precision cuts into the lane (22 assists), and often found the open shooters (51.8% shooting for the game).
"Everybody was open," Walker succinctly said. "It took us a while to notice and understand that we were open, but once we knew it and recognized it, we started moving without even running a play and things started getting easier."
Walker, of course, was an epitome of it all. The junior forward played especially well with Rebekah Gardner, constantly finding the cutting senior guard for the easy layups. The last piece to her triple-double, however, was something of a poetic, full-circle play. Dribbling the ball at the top of the key and drawing all kinds of attention from the Cougars' defense, she swung the ball to a wide-open Madeline Brooks, who promptly swished the basket to give Walker her 10th assist.
Rhema Gardner and Corinne Costa have been playing well as of late
It almost feels guilty to mention this now, but Costa and the younger Gardner continue to develop as key contributors to the team, and today was simply a culmination. In addition to playing gritty defense, Gardner (8 points and 7 rebounds) displayed her offensive skills as well, even creating her own shot by taking the ball to the basket from the post for the nifty reverse layup at the 14:20 mark of the second half.
"Rhema had the best game of her career today," Close said. "She caught some really tough passes, and not only did she catch them, she converted the baskets with great concentration. And on the other side of the floor, it was her deflections; it was the tips by Rhema that led to Markel getting the loose balls and the assists on the fastbreak. She was really engaged and was a huge sparkplug for us off the bench."
As for Costa, the sophomore center also proved her worth from both ends of the floor. Having shown a knack for knocking down the baseline mid-range jumpers, Costa scored with her back to the basket as well, tossing in the hooks with a noticeably softer touch than earlier this season. She ended the day with eight points (4-of-5 shooting), eight rebounds, two blocks, and two steals.
After emerging victors of their past three games via the down-to-the-wire route, the Bruins continued on their roll, this time blowing past Washington State 73-52 at the John Wooden Center. Markel Walker decorated the court in this one, recording the first Bruin triple double in eight years with 14 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists. Then there was Rebekah Gardner, who led all scorers with 21 points on an efficient 8-of-14 shooting. The usual post-game ramblings and musings are below:
A 'W' Clinched in the Second Half
After the game, UCLA head coach Cori Close noted a particularly-telling facet of the game that would make any coach beam with pride.
"More than anything else, I'm proud of our mental growth," Close said. "This was the first game where we finally put the pedal to the metal and kept going in the second half instead of becoming complacent and having lapses in focus. We played for each other and with each other at a higher level today than I've seen up to this point."
The Bruins clearly distanced themselves in that second period, outscoring the Cougars 44-24 in the 20-minute stretch. Credit the results to quicker rotations on defense and more ball movement on offense. The Bruins stymied their opponents to just 21.6% shooting in the second half, all the while repeatedly finding the easy baskets inside (26 of their 38 points from the paint came from the second period).
"The biggest thing was our movement away from the basketball on defense," Close said. "We were late on our closeouts in the first half, but I thought we were much quicker and communicated more in the second half. On offense, we were allowing Washington State's zone defense to push us so far away from the basket, but we adjusted and made a concerted effort to move the ball off the pass and move without the ball."
An All-Around Effort
Sure, the box score shows that every Bruin scored a basket. But even without the stats sheet, the team just looked fluid and invested, particularly again in the second half. The ladies scrapped and heaved for the boards (a 50-28 rebounding margin in favor of the Bruins), made the precision cuts into the lane (22 assists), and often found the open shooters (51.8% shooting for the game).
"Everybody was open," Walker succinctly said. "It took us a while to notice and understand that we were open, but once we knew it and recognized it, we started moving without even running a play and things started getting easier."
Walker, of course, was an epitome of it all. The junior forward played especially well with Rebekah Gardner, constantly finding the cutting senior guard for the easy layups. The last piece to her triple-double, however, was something of a poetic, full-circle play. Dribbling the ball at the top of the key and drawing all kinds of attention from the Cougars' defense, she swung the ball to a wide-open Madeline Brooks, who promptly swished the basket to give Walker her 10th assist.
Rhema Gardner and Corinne Costa have been playing well as of late
It almost feels guilty to mention this now, but Costa and the younger Gardner continue to develop as key contributors to the team, and today was simply a culmination. In addition to playing gritty defense, Gardner (8 points and 7 rebounds) displayed her offensive skills as well, even creating her own shot by taking the ball to the basket from the post for the nifty reverse layup at the 14:20 mark of the second half.
"Rhema had the best game of her career today," Close said. "She caught some really tough passes, and not only did she catch them, she converted the baskets with great concentration. And on the other side of the floor, it was her deflections; it was the tips by Rhema that led to Markel getting the loose balls and the assists on the fastbreak. She was really engaged and was a huge sparkplug for us off the bench."
As for Costa, the sophomore center also proved her worth from both ends of the floor. Having shown a knack for knocking down the baseline mid-range jumpers, Costa scored with her back to the basket as well, tossing in the hooks with a noticeably softer touch than earlier this season. She ended the day with eight points (4-of-5 shooting), eight rebounds, two blocks, and two steals.
"The difference between this game and previous games for Corinne was that she got deeper touches today," Close said. "She's been getting so much deeper on her touches that she's able to score with those hook shots. I'm really proud of how much she's grown; I remember when I first got this job, she didn't believe she could play at this level, so it's been amazing to watch her discover that she really is a talented young woman."
