UCLA
Arizona
UCLA Advances to Quarterfinals with 80-62 Win Over Arizona
March 06, 2015 | Women's Basketball
SEATTLE – Sixth-seeded UCLA used a balanced scoring attack and a disciplined 2-3 zone defense to easily dispatch 11th-seeded Arizona, 80-62, in the second game of Thursday's first round at KeyArena.
With the win, the Bruins advance to play No. 3 Stanford at 2 p.m. PT Friday in the quarterfinals on the Pac-12 Networks and Pac-12 Now.
During the regular season, UCLA lost both conference games to the Cardinal. But the Bruins could be a tough out after Thursday's win over the Wildcats.
By halftime, UCLA (13-17, 8-10 Pac-12) had built a 37-24 lead by holding Arizona (10-20, 3-15 Pac-12) to 29.6 percent shooting and 0-for-5 from the three-point range over the first 20 minutes.
Freshman wing Kelli Hayes was a factor on the offensive end, coming off the bench to go 4-for-4, including her first three-pointer of the year, leading the Bruins at the break with nine points.
The second half was more of the same, as UCLA came out and quickly reeled off an 8-2 run, capped when guard Jordin Canada found forward Monique Billings for a transition lay-up to open up an insurmountable 45-26 advantage with 17:26 left.
Meanwhile, All-Pac-12 selection Nirra Fields poured in 17 of her 21 points in the second half, leading all scorers. Billings chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds. Canada, the conference's Freshman of the Year, was the other Bruin to reach double figures, notching 10 points and just missed a double-double with a game-high and season-high-tying nine assists.
UCLA finished shooting 48.4 percent from the field and 6-of-15 from three (40 percent) while outscoring Arizona 34-20 in the paint. Two of those threes came in the opening minutes from senior guard Madeline Poteet, who helped UCLA jump to a 12-7 lead. From there, coach Cori Close's squad cruised to its third win in its last four games.
Arizona guard Candice Warthen led the Wildcats with 12 points on 4-of-15 shooting on an afternoon their entire team struggled offensively. Arizona made just 20-of-58 shot attempts (34.5 percent).
