Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
UCLA
Women's Basketball Falls To UCLA, 69-56
12/21/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 21, 2003
LOS ANGELES- First Team All-Pac-10 selection Nikki Blue scored 23 points to lead UCLA past Fresno State in a 69-56 non-conference victory on Sunday afternoon at Pauley Pavilion.Blue was as good as advertised, scoring 17 of her 23 points in the first half. She finished 9-19 from the field, dished out nine assists and pulled down seven rebounds.
Fresno State (5-4), which saw its three-game winning streak snapped, was led by junior guard Veronica Mack (Phoenix, Ariz.) with 19 points. Junior Cophie Moore (Arlington, Texas) pulled down a team-high six rebounds.
The Bulldogs, who entered the game having held the edge on the boards in all but one game this season, were outrebounded 42-25 by the Bruins.
Fresno State managed to stick close with UCLA throughout the first half, as the Bruins never led by more than seven. Mack's accuracy from beyond the arc was the reason, as the junior guard connected on four three-pointers.
Guarding UCLA's Blue was a different story. The Bulldogs had little success guarding Blue, who kept UCLA out in front with 17 first-half points.
UCLA jumped out to an 8-2 lead to open the first half before a lay-up by freshman Jasmine Plummer (Natomas, Calif.) cut the Bruin lead to 8-7.
The Bruins would stretch their lead to seven on two more occasions before the Bulldogs began to make a run. A second consecutive triple from Mack got Fresno State within 22-19 and her third trey gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the game at 24-23 with 4:38 remaining.
After Blue connected on a jumper to give UCLA a 30-26 edge, the Bulldogs charged back to tie the game at 31-31 following two free throws from sophomore Lauren Selmon (Norman, Okla.).
UCLA took a 35-31 lead into intermission.
The Bruins pieced together an 11-2 scoring run to open the second half, going up 46-33 at the 15:46 mark after a bucket from Gennifer Arranaga.
After Mack converted a pair of free throws to inch Fresno State closer at 52-40, UCLA answered with an 8-0 run to extend its lead to 60-40 with 9:51 to play.
Freshman Paige Diggs (Amarillo, Texas) brought the Bulldogs within 60-47 after scoring five straight points until UCLA responded with a 6-0 run.
Fresno State would eventually trim UCLA's lead to 12 at 66-54 with 2:28 on the clock before the Bruins secured the win.
Fresno State takes a break for the holidays before its final non-conference game of the season on Tuesday, Dec. 30, when the Bulldogs host Denver at 7 p.m.
