Any doubts -- and there were lots -- that Sue Muldowney had lost her touch when UCLA hired her as a coach at the age of 73 dissipated after her Bruins squad destroyed the Pac-12, going 17-1 in conference play and claiming the conference tournament title.
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#6 UCLA BRUINS Schedule
Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
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11/13/50 Southern Illinois 21-10 35 L 98-88 0-1
11/17/50 at #11 Towson 24-7 18 L 87-79 0-2
11/20/50 at Houston 22-9 23 W 73-65 1-2
11/25/50 at #23 West Virginia 22-9 43 W 90-81 2-2
11/27/50 Nebraska State 14-16 131 W 82-59 3-2
12/01/50 #15 Pittsburgh 23-9 3 W 78-61 4-2
12/04/50 Kennesaw State 15-17 66 W 92-88 5-2
12/11/50 at Saint Mary's 15-16 119 L 76-71 5-3
12/16/50 Long Beach State 20-10 116 W 111-65 6-3
12/30/50 #1 Duke 30-3 11 L 93-82 6-4
01/01/51 Georgia Tech 19-12 48 W 99-70 7-4
01/05/51 Washington 16-14 57 W 74-59 8-4 (1-0)
01/07/51 at Oregon State 15-18 60 W 83-71 9-4 (2-0)
01/12/51 California 21-10 28 W 82-69 10-4 (3-0)
01/14/51 at Colorado 12-18 204 W 92-74 11-4 (4-0)
01/19/51 at Oregon 15-15 79 W 96-90 12-4 (5-0)
01/21/51 #10 Southern California 25-6 14 W 76-61 13-4 (6-0)
01/26/51 at Stanford 9-20 235 W 83-67 14-4 (7-0)
01/28/51 Washington State 17-16 145 W 67-57 15-4 (8-0)
02/02/51 at Washington State 17-16 145 W 82-55 16-4 (9-0)
02/04/51 at Washington 16-14 57 W 88-59 17-4 (10-0)
02/09/51 Arizona State 8-22 183 W 91-65 18-4 (11-0)
02/11/51 Oregon 15-15 79 W 83-72 19-4 (12-0)
02/16/51 Oregon State 15-18 60 W 97-73 20-4 (13-0)
02/18/51 Arizona 23-9 50 W 85-60 21-4 (14-0)
02/23/51 at #10 Southern California 25-6 14 L 72-64 21-5 (14-1)
02/25/51 at California 21-10 28 W 77-65 22-5 (15-1)
03/02/51 Colorado 12-18 204 W 80-64 23-5 (16-1)
03/04/51 at Utah 19-12 33 W 93-63 24-5 (17-1)
03/11/51 vs. Washington State 17-16 145 W 69-53 25-5
03/12/51 vs. #10 Southern California 25-6 14 W 83-62 26-5
The Bruins are the #1 seed in the West region. In other news, Texas A&M-CC had their best regular season ever. Going 22-12 and earning a 7-seed in the WNIT South region.
Another cool story, is that Denver - on the heels of back to back WNIT appearances -- have earned their first NCAA tourney bid since 1955.
Meanwhile, Sue Muldowney has her eyes on the prize. She was brought here to win a title and anything less than that will be a huge letdown for the fans at UCLA who expected that this team would be good enough to do what it did in conference play. Most of the UCLA faithful feel that even with a title, the program should thank Muldowney for her services and send her on her way to find a coach who can build a program long-term. Some want the school to woo USC's coach Aiyana Taylor to Westwood, but given the intense rivalry between the two that seems less than likely to happen.
The fact that the next coach stays on the radar with the program in the midst of a tournament run, stresses the split amongst the fan base at the decision to hire a legendary coach. But amongst her players, it's clear that it's business as usual.
"We're just lucky that we can spend time with her," said senior guard Mia McNeese (Fillmore, CA) who added, "I don't think there's a coach in the country who would've been better for this team right now. We're just so together as a unit, we're not even a veteran team and so..she's perfect for our type of team. I'm just happy to know I can tell my future kids that I played for her. She's a legend."
Well, we'll see if the legend can grow as she takes her UCLA squad towards the postseason for their first title and her 11th?
NCAA TOURNAMENT
1st round: UCLA 94, 16) Richmond 78
2nd round: UCLA, 70, 8) Loyola Marymount 68
Sweet 16: 5) San Diego 88 UCLA 73
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San Diego 83, UCLA 77
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San Diego (24-11, 7-9):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Rachel Cervantez C 33 1-2 0-0 1 6 4 2 2
Aliana Eck PF 36 11-15 1-4 4 15 4 2 23
Shaniya Theobald SF 32 5-12 1-3 3 7 5 3 13
Halle Pizarro SG 17 3-9 1-2 0 1 3 4 10
Ava Byler PG 35 3-8 0-0 0 0 3 1 7
Brianna Grabowski PG 14 2-3 1-2 0 2 1 1 7
Aubrey Phillips SG 19 6-8 2-2 1 1 1 1 15
Ava Lewis SG 4 2-2 0-0 0 1 0 0 4
Ashley Silva C 6 0-2 2-2 3 3 0 0 2
Gabriela Brandon PF 4 0-0 0-0 0 2 1 0 0
Turnovers: 15 (R.Cervantez 1, A.Eck 4, S.Theobald 4,
H.Pizarro 3, A.Byler 2, B.Grabowski 1)
Blocked Shots: 2 (A.Eck 1, H.Pizarro 1)
Steals: 6 (S.Theobald 2, A.Byler 2, B.Grabowski 1,
A.Phillips 1)
3P FGs: 9-19 (S.Theobald 2-3, H.Pizarro 3-7, A.Byler
1-5, B.Grabowski 2-3, A.Phillips 1-1)
UCLA (28-6, 17-1):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Ashley Egan C 26 0-0 2-2 2 6 0 0 2
Alondra Bilbrey PF 25 1-3 0-0 0 6 2 0 2
Amanda Reimer SF 34 4-13 0-0 1 3 2 5 8
Mia McNeese SG 35 8-19 4-5 3 4 8 2 24
Denisse Renard PG 36 5-10 2-4 1 3 9 2 15
Jenna Banner PF 24 8-14 0-1 2 5 1 4 21
Destiny Francisco PG 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Marie Warren C 14 2-4 1-2 1 3 0 2 5
Payton Malik SG 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0
Turnovers: 15 (A.Reimer 7, M.McNeese 3, J.Banner 2,
D.Francisco 1, M.Warren 1, P.Malik 1)
Blocked Shots: 2 (A.Egan 2)
Steals: 6 (A.Egan 2, M.McNeese 2, D.Renard 1, J.Banner
1)
3P FGs: 12-28 (A.Reimer 0-1, M.McNeese 4-9, D.Renard
3-8, J.Banner 5-10)
Player of Game: PF Aliana Eck (SNDGO)
Texas A&M-CC won their 1st round game in the WNIT, before losing in the 2nd round to Tulane 88-82. It matches the school record for wins with 23. Denver upset 6-seed Texas Tech before losing in the 2nd round, en route to their first tourney win in school history.
After the defeat at the hands of WCC power (heh) San Diego (the WCC has emerged into a power league, btw..SD will play Gonzaga in the Elite 8 of that bracket) the fans were immediately on board with finding a new coach. The audience is split between those who want to find one of the top coaches out there that might be a better fit for the role, but it's clear to everyone that Muldowney wants to coach at least one more -- if not two -- years to coach through age 75, as she's said a few times. Her contract was a one-year deal with two one-year options, aimed at giving her and the school some options.
With the disappointment hovering around the program after the dominance of the past year, it's not clear what will happen. Will Muldowney bow out gracefully? Will this be the last we see of a Hall of Famer?
The answers are forthcoming.
2050 FINAL FOUR
Only one top-seed made it to the Final Four this year.
5) San Diego 3) Miami 1) Purdue 9) Nebraska
This is San Diego's first-ever Final Four appearance. They went 7-9 in the WCC and 25-11 overall. Miami is two seasons removed from a national championship and lost in the 2nd round last year. Purdue also lost in the 2nd round last year, this is the 15th Final Four in program history. This is Nebraska's 11th Final Four, the last came in 2040. They lost in the 2nd round last year, too.