UCLA
San Diego (2nd Round)
Bruins Advance to Round of 16 in WNIT with 63-58 Win at San Diego
March 22, 2015 | Women's Basketball
SAN DIEGO – UCLA advanced to the round of 16 in the WNIT with a 63-58 win at San Diego on Sunday afternoon in Jenny Craig Pavilion. The Bruins improved to 15-18 on the year while USD ends its season at 25-7. The Bruins also improve to 9-3 all-time against USD and 4-2 on the road. Down by as many as 11 points, it was the largest margin of deficit UCLA has overcome this season to win.
San Diego jumped out to a 9-0 lead and would later lead 14-3 at the 15:24 mark. The Bruins went on an 8-0 run, capped by a jumper from Kari Korver to cut it to 14-11 (11:39). The Toreros pushed it back to eight at 21-13, before UCLA went on a 7-0 run to make it 21-20 on a jumper by Nirra Fields (7:38). It was as close as the Bruins would get in the first half as USD held a 30-29 lead at the break.
The Bruins outshot USD in the opening stanza, 33 percent (9-for-27) to 32 percent (11-for-34) and outrebounded the Toreros 25-21. But UCLA had nine turnovers compared to six for the home team, leading to a 10-7 advantage for USD in points off turnovers.
The second half was a tight affair with neither team leading by more than four points in the early going. The Bruins took their first lead of the game at 41-39 (13:54) on a driving layup by Jordin Canada. UCLA slowly built its largest lead of the game at nine points (57-48) on a jumper by Korver with 5:28 remaining. The Toreros chipped away at the lead and cut it to 58-54 with 1:45 to go. But Monique Billings introduced herself to USD with a steal and coast-to-coast fingerroll in traffic to make it 60-54 with 1:18 left and then raced down to the other end to swat a shot by Katelyn McDaniel into the stands.
After senior Corinne Costa sank a pair of free throws to put UCLA up 62-54 with :34 to go, the Bruins got a litle sloppy. UCLA had a turnover and was 1-for-3 from the free throw line in the final :21 of the game but got enough stops to hold off the Toreros, 63-58.
UCLA finished shooting 39.0% (23-for-59) while holding San Diego to 30.0% (21-for-70) for the game. UCLA had just five turnovers in the second half and won that battle, 15-14, which gave UCLA a 20-17 edge in points off turnovers. Both teams outrebounded their first-round opponents by 20 and the Toreros edged UCLA 51-46 in this contest, including 24 on the offensive glass.
Fields ended the contest with a game-high 22 points and was joined by Canada as the only other Bruin in double figures with 15 points. Korver finished with nine points and Costa hauled in a team-high nine rebounds.
Malina Hood led a quartet of USD players in double figures with 16 points (4-for-10 from three-point range). Sophia Ederaine had a double-double of 12 points and 16 rebounds. Katherine Hamilton and McDaniel each had 11 points for the home team.
The Bruins will host Northern Colorado in the Round of 16 on Thursday, Mar. 26 at 7:00 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion.
