March 1, 2011

Complete Release in PDF Format

GAMEDAY CENTRAL
***GAME #28: Thu., Mar. 3, 2011
OPPONENT: Washington (11-14, 6-10)
SITE: Pauley Pavilion
TIP-OFF: 7:00 pm Pacific
AUDIO/VIDEO: uclabruins.com
TALENT: Dave Marcus, Michael Sondheimer
Online Coverage: Gametracker | Live Video

***GAME #29: Sat., Mar. 5, 2011
OPPONENT: Washington State (8-20, 6-10)
SITE: Pauley Pavilion
TIP-OFF: 2:00 pm Pacific
AUDIO: uclabruins.com
TALENT: Dave Marcus, Michael Sondheimer
AUDIO/VIDEO: uclabruins.com
TALENT: Dave Marcus, Michael Sondheimer
Online Coverage: Gametracker | Live Video

Bruins Host Washington Schools
UCLA (24-3, 14-2, ranked No. 9 by both Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN) completes the regular season by hosting the Washington schools. On Thursday, UCLA battles Washington at 7 p.m. in Pauley. On Saturday, the Bruins will take on Washington State beginning at 2 p.m. That contest will mark the final women's game in Pauley Pavilion and will also be senior day for UCLA's Nina Earl, Christina Nzekwe, Doreena Campbell and Darxia Morris.

UCLA captured its school record 12th road win of the season last Saturday night in a 61-45 victory against Arizona State. On Thursday night at Arizona, UCLA had clinched a top two conference finish and a first-and-second round bye at the Pac-10 Tournament in a 74-70 win. Darxia Morris was named the Conference Player of the Week for her performances in Arizona.

UCLA will play its first contest in the Pac-10 Tournament on Friday afternoon, Mar. 11 at 2:30 p.m. in the Staples Center against the winner of the Thursday game between the winner of the #3 seed/#10 seed game and the winner of the #6 seed/#7 seed game. The Bruins' Friday contest will be televised live by FSN.

Record Numbers
The Bruins' current total of 24 wins ties for the fifth-most in UCLA history (record: 29 in 1980-81).

With 22 wins in its first 24 games, UCLA achieved its best start of all-time. The previous best start was in 1976-77, when the squad, which featured Ann Meyers, began with 20 wins in the first 22 contests.

The 12-1 start in Pac-10 conference play was UCLA's best ever and surpassed the 10-1 start of the 1998-99 team. The '99 Bruin team went on to tie for first in the conference and advance to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.

This is the first time UCLA has had back-to-back 20-win seasons since 1997-98 (20 wins)/1998-99 (26 wins). The Bruins currently have 24 wins after posting 25 last season. UCLA has now 11 20-win seasons in its history.

UCLA ended the first half of Pac-10 play with an 8-1 conference record, marking just the second time since Pac-10 play began in 1986-87 that the Bruins have won more than seven games in the first half of the conference season. The Bruins recorded the first 8-1 second half conference finish in school history last season.

The Bruins have posted a record of 39-6 in the last 45 games. Five of the six losses have come against teams ranked in the top-five nationally at the time of the contest (Stanford twice this season and twice last season; Nebraska last season in NCAA Tournament; unranked LSU earlier this season).

Pulling Rank
The Bruins sit at No. 9 in the Associated Press and are also ninth in the USA Today/ESPN poll. The last time a UCLA women's team was ranked in the top 10 in the AP poll at this point in a season was in the 1980-81 campaign (No. 8 during the first week of March). This is UCLA's highest ranking ever at this point in the season in the USA Today/ESPN poll.

Road Warriors
UCLA owns a 14-1 record away from home this season, going 12-1 in away games and 2-0 at neutral sites. The Bruins have surpassed the school record total of 11 road wins set by the 1991-1992 team which advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

By The Numbers
The last time UCLA won at least 24 regular season games in a season was in the 1980-81 campaign when it captured a school record 25 regular season wins on the way to a school record 29 wins overall.

UCLA tied the school record for most Pac-10 conference wins last season when it finished second with 15 (also 15 in 1998-99 when it tied for 1st).

UCLA had three players score in double digits in the game at Arizona State on Feb. 26. The Bruins are now 17-0 in games this season when at least three players score in double digits.

In Nikki Caldwell's two-plus seasons at the helm, the Bruins have held 57 (53-4 record) opponents to 60 points or less, 24 (24-0) to 50 points or less and four (4-0) to 40 points or less.

UCLA is 47-4 (16-0 in 2011) under Coach Caldwell when scoring at least 64 points in a game.

The Bruins captured 10 pre-season, non-conference games for the first time since beginning Pac-10 Conference play (1986-87).

Arizona, with 70 points last Thursday, became the first team this season to score more than 67 points in regulation against the Bruins. This season's 55.0 points per game allowed mark would better the current school record of 57.5 set a year ago.

The Bruins are ranked amongst the nation's top 50 in seven team categories-steals (14th-12.3), turnover margin (18th-4.85), rebound margin (18th-7.4), scoring defense (28th-55.0), fg% (26th-.444), scoring margin (29th-11.3), and assists (44th-15.1).

About The Huskies
Washington snapped a three-game losing skein with a 65-48 win at Washington State on Saturday evening. The Huskies are led by Kristi Kingma (16.1 ppg-second in the Pac-10/70 threes-2nd in Pac-10) and Regina Rogers (UCLA transfer/10.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg). UW owns a 6-10 Pac-10 mark on the year, but half of the wins have come on the road.

Washington leads the overall series with the Bruins, 27-22. The Bruins have won the last three, including a 60-48 verdict in Seattle earlier this year.UW's last win came in Seattle by a score of 59-49 in 2009.

First Time Around V. UW
Dec. 31, 2010, Seattle - UCLA rallied from an eight-point deficit early in the second half to open conference play with a 60-48 victory at Washington. UCLA trailed 36-28 before going on an 11-1 run to take its first lead of the half, 39-37. A three-pointer by Rebekah Gardner with 2:16 to play gave the Bruins an eight-point lead, and UCLA put the game away at the free throw line.

Last Year Vs. Washington
Feb. 18, 2010 - Pauley Pavilion
UCLA opened the second half on a decisive 23-4 run and went on to earn a 73-55 win over Washington. The Huskies, who shot 59% in running out to a 32-31 halftime lead, were limited to just 24% shooting in the second half of play. Markel Walker led the Bruins with 19 points. Jasmine Dixon added 17.

Jan. 23, 2010 - Seattle, WA
The Bruins used 60% second-half shooting to help take the lead and then held on for a 69-65 win at Washington. UCLA trailed 30-28 at the break in a game that had eight ties and 12 lead changes. The Bruins took the lead for good at 53-52 on a Doreena Campbell free throw with 5:12 remaining. Jasmine Dixon finished with 25 points, while Campbell added 21.

Dix-On The List
Junior forward Jasmine Dixon has been named to the John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top 20 list and the Naismith Trophy Midseason Top 30 list. Dixon was on several pre-season award lists - Naismith Trophy watch list, Wooden Award watch list, Lindy's 3rd team pre-season All-American team and conference media's preseason All-Pac-10 squad.

The Bruins now own a 45-9 record with Dixon on the active roster after her transfer from Rutgers. The junior post is currently averaging 12.0 ppg (2nd on team) and is leading the team in rebounding (7.4). Last season, Dixon led the Bruins in both scoring (15.3) and rebounding (8.0) and was a first-team All-Pac-10 performer.

Morris Reaches 1,000 Career Points
Senior guard Darxia Morris became the 25th member of UCLA's 1,000-point club when she hit a jumper at the 15:59 mark of the second half at Oregon on Feb. 10. Morris finished the game with nine points and currently has 1,060 career points.

Morris is putting up career-best numbers in 2010-11, averaging a team-high 12.6 points and 2.0 steals per game while shooting 44.7% from the field. She has been the team's leading scorer in a team-best 11 games and poured in a career-best 24 points at USC on Feb. 6. She had scored a then career-high 22 points at Cal and followed up that game with a 21-point effort at home against Arizona State. Morris' back-to-back 20-point games were the first by a Bruin player since Jasmine Dixon had three-straight 20-point games (23, 25 and 20) last season on Jan. 21, 23 and 28.

Campbell Moves Up The Charts
Guard Doreena Campbell currently ranks 15th on UCLA's all-time Top 20 in scoring (1,226 points) and ninth in assists (405). She has also entered the Top 10 in three-point shots made with 84, good for a tie for eighth place with Lindsey Pluimer. Campbell now has 121 games played under her belt which is good for a tie for seventh on that all-time school list.

Campbell is attempting to become the third Bruin (Ann Meyers '75-78, Nikki Blue '03-06) to ever record four straight seasons of 100 or more assists. (this season she currently has 87 assists).

With her two assists v. Stanford, Campbell became the fourth Bruin to record at least 1,000 points, 400 rebounds and 400 assists for a career, joining Noelle Quinn, 2004-07 1,829 pts/450 a/794r; Nikki Blue, 2003-06 1,797 pts/602a/616r; Ann Meyers, 1975-78 1,685pts/544a/819r.

Back-To-Back Win Total Climbing
With 24 wins this year and 25 a year ago, the Bruins are rapidly approaching the all-time school mark for most wins in back-to-back seasons (51 --- 27 in 1978 and 24 in 1979).

Balanced Scoring
UCLA boasts a very balanced scoring attack, with six players averaging 8.3 points or more per game and seven having at least one double-figure scoring effort this season. The Bruins have had six different players lead the team in scoring during a game this season. Six different players have topped the team on the boards during a contest this season.

On the Other Side
The Bruins have faced six opponents this season who began the week 1st or second in their conference or sit one-game behind the conference leader (as of 2/28/11) -- Notre Dame (#2, 13-2 in Big East), Montana State (T#2, 10-4 in Big Sky); Temple (2nd, 13-1 in Atlantic-10); UC Santa Barbara (#2, 11-4 in Big West); Stanford (#1, 17-0 in Pac-10); St. Mary's (#2, 10-4 in West Coast).

Stingy Defense
UCLA began the week ranked second in the Pac-10 in scoring defense, holding opponents to 55.0 points per game. The Bruins have held 12 teams to under 50 points and 19 of 27 opponents to 60 points or less.

When Cal scored 48 points in Pauley this season it marked the third straight game in which UCLA had limited the opposition to less than 50 points. The last time a Bruin team accomplished that feat was in the 1975-76 season (San Diego State 39/ USC 48/ Fresno State 47 --- it held five straight opponents under 50 in the 1974-75 season).The Oregon State away game marked the third time this season that a UCLA team has held two straight opponents (OSU 48, UO 48) under 50 points (the other times USC 42/Oregon St. 46 ; LMU 43/Montana State 44). In Caldwell's first season (2008-09), the Bruins accomplished this feat by holding Arizona (38) and Washington State (48) to under 50 points in back-to-back games, marking the first time a Bruin team had done so since the 1988-89 season.

Last Game ...
UCLA broke a 28-all tie with a 17-0 run on the way to posting a 61-45 win at Arizona State. Jasmine Dixon led three Bruins in double digits with 17 points and grabbed a team-high 13 rebounds. Atonye Nyingifa added 15 points and seven boards. Darxia Morris had 13 points and four assists. The Bruins led 24-21 at the halftime break in a first half which saw the lead change six times. Nyingifa and Morris each scored 11 of their points after intermission to lead the charge.