UCLA
Arizona
PAC-10 CHAMPIONS!!
June 21, 1999 | Women's Basketball
March 6, 1999
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The UCLA women's basketball team won its first Pac-10 Conference title by defeating Arizona 85-77 in front of 4,804 at Pauley Pavilion.
Neither team led by more than four points for the first nine minutes of the game. The Bruins led by one point (33-32) with 3:39 left in the first half but went on a 10-2 run to extend their lead to seven points, 43-34. The score was 43-36 by the end of the half, and UCLA's junior center Janae Hubbard had already recorded a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Hubbard ended the game with 14 points, a career high 22 rebounds (fourth-greatest single-game rebound total in school history), and 2 blocked shots.
"When Janae plays big minutes she gets big numbers. She had 33 minutes to get her numbers tonight. It is something we expect from her and something she expects," said UCLA head coach Kathy Olivier.
"Every time we had the ball, I was looking for it and wanting it," Hubbard said.
UCLA brought its lead up to as much as 15 points (75-60, 4:15) in the second half. But Arizona came back by keeping UCLA to .351 shooting compared to .474 in the first half. The Wildcats cut their deficit to five points with 32 seconds remaining in the game, but clutch free throws by junior forward Maylana Martin and freshman guard Michelle Greco gave UCLA the 85-77 win.
Said Olivier on her team's efforts, "We played 40 minutes of basketball. We knew this was a challenge and had to be focused. That's what we did today. We had a challenge and met it."
UCLA had five players in double-digit scoring, with Martin as the leading scorer with 20 points. LaCresha Flannigan scored 16 points, Melanie Pearson and Hubbard scored 14, and Michelle Greco scored 10.
Arizona had four players in double-digit scoring, with Reshea Bristol and Felecity Willis leading the Wildcats with 18 points each. Lisa Griffith scored 12 points, while junior forward Angela Lackey recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
UCLA, which ended the season with a 15-3 PAC-10 record (most PAC-10 wins in school history), shares the conference title with Oregon, also 15-3. This is the Bruins' first conference title in 20 years (UCLA won the Western Collegiate Athletic Association in 1978-79). The Bruins get the PAC-10's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament by virtue of a series of tiebreakers. This will be UCLA's second consecutive appearance in the tournament. The selections for the tournament will be announced on Sunday, March 7 at 2:15 pm. on ESPN.
