UCLA Olympic Sports Update: January 30th
By Derek Hart
Bringing the Bruin Nation up to speed on what’s been happening with these programs:
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL – Cori Close’s Lady Bruins did well in the Rocky Mountains this past weekend, as they evened their record to 10-10 and climbed above the .500 mark in the Pac-12 at 5-4 with a sweep of Utah in Salt Lake City on Thursday, 65-60, and Colorado in Boulder on Sunday, 62-54 in overtime.
UCLA came back from nine points down with seven minutes to go against the Utes, scoring the last nine points of the game as part of an 18-8 run to win it.
Mariah Williams scored a team-high 21 points, including three 3-pointers, while Rebekah Gardner had 15 points and seven rebounds and guard Thea Lemberger had six assists to go with her 13 points.
In their victory over the Bufaloes, Gardner had 17 points, Lemberger contributed 13 for the second straight game, and Corrine Costa grabbed 10 boards.
After a most pathetic showing against Oregon, Markel Walker came back with a vengance versus the Pac-12 newbies as she earned two double-doubles, scoring 14 points and getting ten rebounds against Utah while competely going off against CU with another ten boards and a career-high 24 points.
Not a bad peformance from a short-handed team as several key members are out for the year with injuries.
These Bruins will return to the John Wooden Center to face the Washgington schools this weekend, Washington on Thursday, February 2 and Washington State on Saturday, February 4.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL – The women’s gymnastics team has some competition for the best sport on the UCLA campus now, as these third-ranked volleyballers continue to roll.
Al Scates’ team had no trouble at all this past week, sweeping both Cal State Northridge this past Wednesday and UC Santa Barbara this past Friday at the Wooden Center on campus.
The scores against CSUN’s Matadors were 25-18, 25-15, and 25-12, while the scores against UCSB’s Gauchos were 25-18, 25-20, and 25-19.
They currently stand at 9-1 overall, with a 4-0 record in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
UCLA will have some challenging matches this week as they hit the road week, playing Pepperdine in Malibu this Wednesday and going over to USC to play the Trojans this Friday.
WOMEN’S TENNIS – Off to a good start, beating UC Irvine 7-0 on Wednesday and Utah 4-0 on Friday, both matches being at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on campus.
They will face Loyola Marymount this coming Thursday at home.
MEN’S TENNIS – Like their female counterparts, off to a good start as they beat UC Irvine 7-0 this past Tuesday and Alabama 4-0 this past Saturday at the LATC.
They will head for the Bay Area to face California in Berkeley this Friday and Stanford in Palo Alto this Saturday.
WOMEN’S WATER POLO – Like the men’s tennis team, these Bruins will be in Palo Alto this coming weekend for the Stanford Invitational, February 4 and 5.
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