UCLA
2-0
James Madison
2-1
UCLA Cruises to 90-61 Win Over JMU
November 21, 2015 | Women's Basketball
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LOS ANGELES -- UCLA improved to 2-0 on the year by avenging the season-opening loss last year at James Madison (2-1), routing the Dukes 90-61 on Friday night in Pauley Pavilion. Senior guard Nirra Fields scored a game-high 23 points while sophomore guard Jordin Canada tallied 20 points and seven assists. It marked the Bruins' eighth-straight win, dating back to last season's WNIT Championship run.
"This win wouldn't mean as much if we didn't respect James Madison," UCLA Head Coach Cori Close said. "James Madison has won 29 games the last two years and 24 or more games for 10 years in a row. You don't do that without being an incredible program."
James Madison scored the game's first two points and would later lead 4-2 at the 8:44 mark after a layup by Kayla Cooper-Williams. But Fields hit a jumper to tie it at 4-4 (7:54) and Canada made one of two free throws to put UCLA up 5-4 (6:52) and the Bruins never trailed again.
UCLA led 25-17 at the end of the first quarter with Fields pouring in 10 points in the first 10 minutes.
Ashley Perez hit a three-pointer for JMU to pull the Dukes to within eight (31-23) with 6:12 left in the second period. But it was all UCLA after that as the Bruins closed the period on a 24-2 run to put the game out of reach. UCLA led 55-25 by halftime, winning the second period 30-8. Fields had 20 points by the break and Canada was in double figures with 11 points.
The third period saw UCLA build its largest lead of 42 points (69-27) on a three-pointer by Canada with 5:52 left in the quarter. James Madison would close the gap to 31 points by the end of the third (76-45). Canada led the Bruins with seven points in the period, followed by sophomore Monique Billings with six.
James Madison would not get closer than 27 points in the final quarter, which it won, 16-14, to provide the 90-61 final.
"I thought we did a lot of good things on offense," Close added. "Our decision-making by our guards over an extended period of time was very good. My disappointment was in our defense and not taking away the three-point shot and in our defensive rebounding. But on offense, over the course of the entire game, I was pretty pleased."
For the game, UCLA shot 47.3 percent from the floor (35-for-74) while holding JMU to 30.7 percent (23-for-75). The Bruins pounded the boards for a 54-39 advantage. UCLA also took care of the ball, winning the turnover battle 13-10.
The win marked UCLA's first-ever triumph over the Dukes in five tries. JMU had defeated UCLA in each of the past two seasons.
The Bruins had several standout performances other than the scoring of Fields and Canada. Billings ended with a career-high 15 points and added six rebounds, two steals, one block and one assist. Senior Kacy Swain had the team's first double-double of the year, and the second of her career, with 11 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. Sophomore Kelli Hayes rounded out the five Bruins in double figures with 10 points.
The Bruin freshmen each got some quality minutes with Kennedy Burke scoring six points and adding two assists and two boards. Ashley Hearn had a little bit of everything, finishing with six rebounds, two points, two blocks, two steals and an assist.
Perez led the Dukes with 20 points but went 3-for-16 from three-point range. Angela Mickens was the only other player from James Madison to reach double-figure scoring with 10 points.
The Bruins return to action on Sunday, Nov. 22 when they host No. 2 South Carolina at 1:00 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion on Pac-12 LA.
James Madison at UCLA (Game Two)
| SCOREBOARD | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
| James Madison | 17 | 8 | 20 | 16 | 61 |
| UCLA | 25 | 30 | 21 | 14 | 90 |
