UCLA 87 ð UA 68
Los Angeles - As quickly as the Wildcat women's hoops team catapulted its way to the top of the Pacific 10 Conference, the Bruins brought Arizona back down a notch.
UCLA (13-10, 8-6) won its fourth consecutive game, upsetting Pac-10 leader and 24th-ranked Arizona (18-6, 10-3) 87-68 last night in Pauley Pavilion.
Four Bruin players scored in double figures, with freshman Noelle Quinn leading the way with a career-high 31 points. She added 11 rebounds for her fourth double-double in five games. Sophomore Nikki Blue also had a double-double, her second consecutive, with 16 points and a career-best 11 assists.
"We were playing the game the way it should be played. We played hard and with focus," said UCLA head coach Kathy Olivier. "Everybody was playing at a high level tonight, and we need that against a team ranked in the Top 25."
Arizona junior guard Dee-Dee Wheeler led Arizona with 25 points, and sophomore center Shawntinice Polk added 13 points and 10 rebounds for her third-straight double-double.
Quinn's 20-plus-point game was her fourth straight, giving her the distinction of being only the second UCLA freshman ever to accomplish this feat. The only other Bruin player to do this was UCLA Hall of Famer Ann Meyers in 1974-75. Sophomore guard Lisa Willis also made her way into the UCLA record books, with her five three-pointers on the game giving her a single-season school record 54 made threes.
UCLA enjoyed a 35-29 lead at the half thanks to 13 first-half points from Quinn and an astonishing eight steals from Willis. The Bruins opened up a 12-point lead, 30-18, on a pair of Quinn free throws, her sixth and seventh consecutive points for UCLA in a 9-0 run.
Arizona went on a 11-0 run of its own to cut UCLA's lead to 30-29 on a Wheeler layup with 1:18 left in the first, but UCLA scored five straight to reach its halftime lead of six.