LOS ANGELES — No. 3 UCLA juggled a travel hiccup on its way back from Minnesota. When the Bruins arrived at the airport, their pilot was sick. Pivoting due to delays, the team drove back to the hotel, where they slept for three hours before resuming their flight plans back to Westwood at 5 a.m.
Charlisse Leger-Walker awoke Friday morning under the weather, run-down from the Big Ten road trip. The graduate student guard didn’t practice, watching from a chair in a team-issued grey sweatshirt as she intensely followed a practice that coach Cori Close deemed as not “intense” enough for her standards.
Barking orders, Leger-Walker shared critique and advice, much like the player-coach that Close has often called the former Washington State transfer. And on Sunday afternoon, when game time arrived, the Bruins weren’t without their pilot.
Leger-Walker guided UCLA (17-1, 7-0 Big Ten) to a 97-67 victory over No. 12 Maryland with a near-triple-double effort, tallying 17 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, hardly challenged by the conference’s fourth-highest-ranked squad.
During the second quarter, Close brought Leger-Walker to the sideline for a breather. Over the next 30 seconds, the Bruins committed two turnovers – an errant pass out of bounds and an offensive foul by graduate guard Gianna Kneepkens – and so, Close quickly recalled Leger-Walker to the court.
The Kiwi international guard had 13 points at halftime alone – knocking down 4 of 8 looks from beyond the arc, matching Kneepkens, who, entering the game, shot at a 45.8% clip from 3-point range.
Close spoke earlier this week about how, across the two-game road trip, her team’s offensive possessions weren’t up to par, but because of overall talent, UCLA still found ways to score and win in double-digits.
UCLA’s 15th-year head coach shouted at her team while leading 18-13 near the end of the first quarter after senior forward Angela Dugalic tossed the ball out of bounds and then got called for a moving screen on the following offensive possession.
“What are we doing?” Close told her Bruins, who turned the ball over 16 times Sunday. “Get on the same page.”
Even when sloppy possessions arose against Maryland (17-3, 5-3) at Pauley Pavilion, UCLA exposed a 46-to-24 rebounding advantage and a team-wide 63% from the field effort to expand its lead.
To start the Bruins’ scoring in the second quarter, senior guard Kiki Rice muscled her way into the paint for a layup – and then on the other end stuffed Terrapins guard Oluchi Okananwa’s fastbreak-layup attempt.
UCLA ground Maryland down on both ends of the hardwood. It didn’t matter that senior center Lauren Betts spent most of the second half on the bench with four fouls to her name, or that Rice scored just eight points.
The Bruins had Leger-Walker. To close out an end-to-end dominating effort, she brought out a trick from the Harlem Globetrotters, an over-the-shoulder no-look dime to senior guard Gabriela Jaquez to give UCLA an 86-58 advantage.
Kneepkens finished with 16 points, while Jaquez led the team on Sunday with 22 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the field.
Related Articles
UCLA’s Kiki Rice takes next step in her senior season Rice, Betts lead No. 3 UCLA women past Minnesota for 10th straight win Lauren Betts leads No. 4 UCLA to dominant win over No. 25 Nebraska Gianna Kneepkens went from long shot to sure shot for No. 4 UCLA Alexander: UCLA, USC show women’s basketball is thriving in L.A.Hence then, the article about no 3 ucla women shake off travel hiccup in win over no 12 maryland was published today ( ) and is available on The Orange County Register ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( No. 3 UCLA women shake off travel hiccup in win over No. 12 Maryland )
Also on site :