Women's hoops gives victory to Bruins

By Ben Miller

Feb 4, 2005, 12:00 AM

A game that started out as a first-half yawner exploded into a second-half track meet as the Washington women's basketball team fell to UCLA 86-81 last night in Los Angeles. The Huskies (9-13 overall, 5-7 Pac-10) will have a chance to rebound against USC tomorrow. Both teams shot well from the field as the Huskies and Bruins shot 47 and 46 percent, respectively. "It was definitely an offensive show [in the second half]," junior Kayla Burt said. "Everyone was just knocking it down." Burt led the UW, scoring a career-high 20 points, including 4-of-9 from behind the arc. She also had a team-high 8 rebounds. "I thought we played the best we've played down here in some time," Burt said. "We couldn't knock down our free throws and made a few key turnovers that just let the game slip away from us." At the break, the Bruins (14-7, 7-5) had a 31-29 lead over the Huskies. The half was highlighted by sloppy play on both sides of the court as the two teams combined for 21 turnovers. During halftime, however, coach June Daugherty told her team to start running on UCLA, and that's exactly what they did. As the second half started up, so did the offense for both teams. Washington and UCLA combined for 107 points in the final period. Through the first 18 minutes of the half, the two teams traded blows, with players stepping up for big shots on each possession. "These kids played a good game," Daugherty said. "It was a fun basketball game, but I'm disappointed with the five point loss." Washington had a late 78-76 lead, but The Huskies shot themselves in the foot during the last two minutes, committing four turnovers and missing four free throws. UCLA ended the game on a 10-3 run to pull away with the victory. The big difference in the team stats were from free throws and turnovers. Washington made only 13-of-24 free throws and committed 21 turnovers to UCLA's 11. "Short of a few turnovers down the stretch and a couple of free throws it could have gone the other way," Daugherty said. "We positioned ourselves to get a W down here, but unfortunately we came up five points short." Sophomore Cheri Craddock added 11 points on 3-of-3 3-point shooting. Junior Jill Bell struggled through double teams all night to post 10 points but turned over the ball six times. "She just wasn't getting her turnaround shot tonight," Burt said about Bell. "They made some adjustments on her." The Bruins had two players with more than 20 points. Junior guard Nikki Blue put in 23 points and dished out eight assists while freshman Lindsey Pluimer added 21 points of her own.

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