Wildcats sweep UCLA for first time since '98

The Arizona women's basketball team jilted UCLA in their Valentine's Day matchup last night in McKale, sending the Bruins home with their second loss to UA this season.

Senior forward Elizabeth Pickney led the way for Arizona with 19 points and nine rebounds in the 77-62 victory, which completed the first Wildcat season sweep of the Bruins since the 1998 season.

Despite a seesaw battle in the first half, Arizona woke up in the second.

The crowd gave a lot of love to the home team, especially when Arizona started the second half with a decisive 26-6 run that put the game away.

After Arizona (13-12 overall, 9-7 Pacific 10 Conference) led 41-33 at the half, Pickney started the second-half run with a 10-foot jumper 10 seconds into the second half.

Then the rest of the team joined in the scoring.

Junior guard Julie Brase shot 3-for-5 from the field during the run including two 3-pointers. The Tucson native finished with eight points for the game, all in the second half.

Sophomore guard Aimee Grzyb chipped in another couple 3-pointers in the run. She finished the game with 16 points.

By the time the run was over, the damage had been done as Arizona led by the score of 67-39 with a little over 13 minutes to play in the game.

"At the start of the second half was when we were brilliant," said Arizona head coach Joan Bonvicini. "When we went on our run, we were playing well inside and outside."

Bonvicini's players agreed.

"It's just that we came out and knew they were going to double team (Elizabeth Pickney)," Grzyb said. "The weak side was open and we just had some open shots."

Freshman guard Dee-Dee Wheeler contributed 14 points to the winning effort.

UCLA (7-17 overall, 3-12 Pac-10) had the chance to make it a game as Arizona went cold and didn't score for more than two minutes late in the second half but shot poorly during that span, losing any hope of a comeback.

UCLA sophomore forward Whitney Jones led all scores with 24 points in a losing effort.

Arizona welcomed back two players - senior center LaKeisha Taylor and senior forward Krista Warren - from ankle sprains.

Though neither contributed many points, UCLA head coach Kathy Olivier praised Warren's effort in the game.

"Krista Warren is a very good player," Olivier said. "She does the little things that make other people look good."

Bonvicini noticed this as well.

"Krista had some quality minutes tonight," Bonvicini said. "She rebounded well and played with confidence."

Wheeler contributed Arizona's win to post play and open shots from outside.

"We just need to open the post play and look for the guards," she said. "That is what opened up the game for us."

Arizona faces a stiffer challenge tomorrow against a Southern California squad with a better record.

"We will take this win with us this weekend when we face SC," Bonvicini said. "Saturday's game is big and we're going to have to play all 40 minutes of basketball."

Brase echoed the coach's sentiment.

"Against USC on Saturday, we are going to have to come out strong," she said. "We just have to take care of the ball, look for the posts more, and we need good ball movement."

Brase said the two remaining home games leave the team in control of its own destiny.

"We have nothing to lose at this point in the season," Brase said. "We just come out and play to win so we can help ourselves in the Pac-10 tournament."

Arizona plays USC at 2 p.m. tomorrow in McKale Center.