UCLA
San Diego State
Bruins Top Aztecs at Hawaii Invite, 22-5
March 31, 2017 | Women's Water Polo
HONOLULU – No. 3 UCLA women's water polo cruised to a 22-5 win over No. 12 San Diego State on the first day of play at the Hawaii Invitational Thursday. Alys Williams led the way with a hat trick, as 13 Bruins scored in all at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.
The Bruins did not waste any time getting on the board, as Maddie Musselman scored the first of her two goals nine seconds into the contest. Less than a minute later, Williams netted her first. The redshirt senior added her second at 5:59 of the quarter, and Alex Angermund followed with her first to give the Bruins a 4-0 advantage less than three minutes into the game.
Musselman added her second goal following an Ioli Benekou exclusion, and Kodi Hill and Mackenzie Barr tacked on two more to give the Bruins a 7-0 lead heading into the second frame. The seven first-quarter goals matched a season high for UCLA, previously set against UC San Diego (Jan. 22).
Williams completed her hat trick at 7:36 of the second quarter before Caroline Israels netted the Aztecs' first goal of the game at 6:57 of the frame to cut their deficit to 8-1. UCLA's Bronte Halligan and SDSU's Alyssa Diacono alternated the game's next two goals ahead of a flurry of scores by Alexa Tielmann, Hill, Lizette Rozeboom and Aubrie Monahan that gave the Bruins a 13-2 halftime edge.
Halligan and Tielmann each scored her second of the contest around the first by Lizzy Bilz of the Aztecs to push the UCLA advantage to 15-3 at 3:34 of the third quarter. Nicole Reynolds scored her first of two second-half scores for the Bruins before SDSU's Hannah Carrillo added one to send the game to its final quarter with the Bruins leading, 16-4.
Louise Hazell (her first of the season), Rachel Whitelegge and Reynolds ran off three goals in under three minutes to open the game's final quarter. Whitelegge added another at 3:32 of the frame to push the lead to 20-4, and Carrillo answered with her second and the Aztecs' final of the night. Jenna Hurst and Angermund posted the game's final two goals to extend the Bruins' ultimate lead to a game-high 17 at 22-5.
UCLA will return to action Friday (9:00 p.m., PT), when they face host and No. 8 Hawaii at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.
No. 12 San Diego State (0, 2, 2, 1 – 5)
Carrillo – 2; Bilz, Diacono, Israels – 1
No. 3 UCLA (7, 6, 3, 6 – 22)
Williams – 3; Angermund, Halligan, Hill, Musselman, Reynolds, Tielmann, Whitelegge – 2; Barr, Hazell Hurst, Monahan, Rozeboom – 1
