Dec. 30, 2001

Box Score

Berkeley, Calif. - UCLA's defense forced 33 California turnovers and held the Golden Bears to a season-low 48 points in a 64-48 road victory Sunday at Haas Pavilion.

UCLA rushed out to a 19-4 lead in the first half, taking the 15-point advantage at the 4:41 mark on a Whitney Jones three-pointer. However, Cal closed the half with a 14-4 run of its own to pull to within five points at halftime, 23-18. LaTasha O'Keith scored 10 points, including five from the free-throw line, during that run.

The Bruins started the second half much like the first, going on a 16-4 run to increase their lead to 39-22 with 11:46 to play in the contest. The Golden Bears pulled to within 10 with 5:10 to play, but a Brianna Winn three-pointer stopped Cal's momentum and gave UCLA a 50-37 lead.

UCLA hit 12 consecutive free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

"It's nice to win one on the road," said UCLA head coach Kathy Olivier. "Last year we struggled on the road, so I'm very happy to go home with a 'W'. We hit our free throws and we played smart. The players did exactly what we asked them to do. They executed the game plan, so I'm very happy with that."

Jones led the Bruins with 13 points and also added four rebounds. Freshman guard Brianna Winn contributed a career-best 10 points in 14 minutes of play. Natalie Nakase had eight points, six assists, four rebounds and four steals, and Kristee Porter contributed nine points and a career-high five steals. Malika Leatham and Shalada Allen tied for the team lead in rebounds with six apiece.

Ami Forney led the Bears with 18 points and 10 rebounds for her 10th career double-double and third of the season. But the senior center had just three points and three boards at halftime.

"UCLA came out and had a very good game plan against us," Cal coach Caren Horstmeyer said. "They basically outhustled us and beat us to balls. It was like, 'Welcome to the Pac-10,' in terms of their physicalness. They outphysicaled us, they outhustled us, they outplayed us and they deserved to win the game."