UCLA 61, USC 42

There was this guy in the huddle with UCLA today that they showed on the arena camera a few times. Said he was from the UCLA men's championship team in 1995. Now I see why he was there:

LOS ANGELES (AP)—Tyus Edney helped UCLA win its last national basketball championship in 1995, so coach Nikki Caldwell called on him to give her women’s team an earful.

Jasmine Dixon scored 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting and No. 12 UCLA routed Southern California 61-42 Saturday in a matchup of crosstown rivals off to their best starts in years.

“He said it’s about heart,” Caldwell said. “I think the team listened to him, they don’t always listen to me.”

Whatever it was, the Bruins dominated USC from tipoff to final buzzer. I didn't expect that. And though USC didn't play badly, UCLA just seemed utterly on and fired up:

Ashley Corral scored 14 points for USC, which had its six-game winning streak end. Still, the Trojans are off to their hottest start since going 17-1 before their first Pac-10 loss in 1993-94.

“There were a lot of things in the game we didn’t get done. We had a lot of open looks in the first half and didn’t make them,” USC coach Michael Cooper said. “Their defense was harrassing, but it wasn’t maniacal like we thought it would be. I thought our defense was going to be a lot better. We got to get a lot nastier.”

USC’s leading scorer Briana Gilbreath missed all 12 of her shots and finished with nine points—all on free throws—while playing in foul trouble. She came in averaging 14.5 points.

“We still had open looks and she just wasn’t knocking them down,” Cooper said.

The Trojans shot a 28 percent from the floor and committed 20 turnovers in front of a big crowd, including UCLA’s rowdy student section that noisily taunted the Trojans for their airballs.

Box score.

Pauley Pavilion was full of 6,675 loud people today. It was great to see that size of a crowd. Basketball celebrities in attendence included: Jessica Moore, Lisa Leslie doing commentary for FOX, and Lisa Willis.



USC's #15 Briana Gilbreath runs to help Jacki Gemelos, who has the ball.



Gilbreath and UCLA's Jasmine Dixon scramble for a rebound in the first half.



Sheila Boykin and Kacy Swain chilling at halftime and perhaps talking about what they'll do at UCLA next year, when they're playing for Nikki Caldwell.



Markel Walker pops a long two in the second half.



Dixon scores and Walker yells for joy.



Gemelos has a crazy skill set. Here she prepared to take the ball in during the second half. She shot it, missed, got her own rebound and put it up and in.

'Hood mentality

Don't take that scholarship for granted.

The success stories abound: local girl goes off to Division I school, or JC-to-DI, and makes a mark. Think Jeanette Pohlen, Layshia Clarendon or Hazel Ramirez if you're a Los Angeles-area resident.

But those are the exceptions. Unfortunately, there is far more wasted talent out there than success - particularly in low socio-economic areas - AKA the 'hood. I might offend some with this terminology, but I have to call it what it is.

First there are the ones who don't even try. A girl from my former school of employment comes to mind. One of the best skill sets we'd seen, and all that natural talent. But she wouldn't even play for the school because she "didn't care" (Translation: fear of failure).

Another girl from that school with similar great talent did play, but she didn't want to go to college. She could have got a scholarship easily. Almost went to two JCs before abandoning the idea altogether. She seemed to like the idea of sitting around the house better than being a student athlete.

And then, don't think that landing that scholarship necessarily means that it's "happily ever after" for these kids. Two examples from other South Central LA schools come to mind.

One girl came home from her JC for winter break. She got one of the assistants from her former high school team to take her to the airport for the return flight after the holiday. He called the JC coach the next day; the girl never made it. He checked the girl's house. Apparently after he left her at the airport, she found a way home and never got on the plane. She told her brother to tell the coach that she wasn't there when he called.

Another girl came home from her college for winter break, and her people practically had to throw her on the plane to get her to return, as she didn't want to go. And her team and program are ranked very well.

It confounds the mind, but for every Mykiea Russell and Reshanda Gray (Washington Prep High School), there are 10 times more of the types of girls as the two above.

Why? The reasons vary. Fear of failure, fear of success, family influences, neighborhood influences, lack of role models, lack of reinforcement, lack of structure, lack of self-esteem, lack of resilience. Most likely, a combination of the above. But it's agonizing for those of us like myself who surround these girls, and all of our efforts fail.

College coaches know about 'Hood mentality. Some - especially high-profile programs - steer clear of recruiting in certain areas. They don't want to deal with it, and who could blame them?

I wish we had the resources to address the social issues in poor neighborhoods that lead to so much wasted talent. But that's another column for another blog.

Big hoopin' Saturday

In the Big 12 today, all teams have conference openers. The GM for hoopfeed.com is headed to the Baylor game, so I will keep you posted.

Personally, it'll be a big day for me, as I'm headed to three games. The first is USC at UCLA. There is no love lost between those two teams, trust me.

View Park and Narbonne will play for the Fairfax LA City Showcase Tournament title at 4 p.m. today (my second stop).

Other stuff......

There's a big difference between the West coast and the South: Tennessee Coach Pat Summitt is worried about the Vols' noon game tomorrow cutting into "church time."

Diana Taurasi's drug charge damages the WNBA.

Very interesting interview with former Oregon State guard Haiden Palmer.

Cathing up with Catch, aka the phenomenal Tamika Catchings.

Items on the grownup tip

Check out the Candice Wiggins overseas experience.

Diana Taurasi will appeal her suspension.

The Tulsa Shock can't get Maya Moore in the WNBA draft, so they'll have to start from scratch.

This column pisses me off, but I'm glad the writer wrote it. I've discussed before in this space how pathetic it is that some girls and women play the game but don't bother to follow their own sport. Let's be our own fans, ladies.

Vicky Tagalicod transfers from USC to Hawaii

Vicky Tagalicod, who sat out her freshman year at USC in 2009-2010 with a torn ACL, has transferred to the University of Hawaii. Tagalicod is originally from Hawaii. She will enroll at UH for spring semester and will be eligible to play in the spring of 2012.

USC had no comment on the transfer.

Game landscape

Upsets:

#25 Arkansas beat #10 Kentucky 78-67.

Georgia Tech defeated #8 North Carolina 71-70. Wish I could have seen that one.

Other games:

Tennessee blew out Alabama, 110-45. It's their 37th consecutive win against the Crimson Tide, but that's not the Vols' longest streak against another team. That honor goes to South Carolina, who Tennessee has beat 38 straight times.

#3 Duke held off #15 Maryland to stay undefeated.

News:

Anne Donovan comes strongly to Diana Taurasi's defense.

Supastah videos:

Several of the nation's top high school players are interviewed by Insidewomensbasketball, including Los Angeles' own Reshanda "Too Tall" Gray. Hey, hey, hey!

Ogwumike video!

Congratulations:

Brea Olinda Coach Jeff Sink, now in his 18th year, got his 700th win tonight. Sink, whose team is currently ranked first in the nation, coached his Ladycats to a 71-17 victory over El Dorado.

Afternoon quick hits

South Carolina freshman forward Kayla Brewer is transferring to Texas.

Diana Taurasi has been cut by her Turkish team.

Notre Dame has an eight-game winning streak going on.

The LA Times names its top 25 high school teams in Southern California.

Washington state high school basketball rankings: wow, the top teams are in the suburbs and Eastern Washington now. What's up with that?

Powerade Fab 50 rankings, week five

A bit of movement due to holiday tournaments, but Cali still rules for now:

Rank School (City, State) Record Prev

1 Brea Olinda (Brea, Calif.) 11-0 1
2 Long Beach Poly (Long Beach, Calif.) 11-2 2
3 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) 12-1 3
4 Neptune (Neptune, N.J.) 3-0 5
5 Bolingbrook (Bolingbrook, Ill.) 10-2 7
6 Potter's House Christian (Jacksonville, Fla.) 17-1 10
7 Riverdale (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) 15-0 40
8 Ben Davis (Indianapolis, Ind.) 13-0 11
9 St. Mary's (Stockton, Calif.) 4-2 12
10 Monarch (Louisville, Colo.) 5-2 13
11 St. Mary's (Phoenix, Ariz.) 11-1 14
12 Westbury Christian (Houston) 23-1 4
13 Start (Toledo, Ohio) 5-0 15
14 Lake Taylor (Norfolk, Va.) 10-0 16
15 St. John's (D.C.) 12-0 17
16 Buford (Buford, Ga.) 7-1 6
17 Norcross (Norcross, Ga.) 10-1 18
18 Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, Md.) 14-4 8
19 Whitney Young (Chicago, Ill.) 9-2 9
20 Madison Academy (Madison, Ala.) 16-2 46
21 Spring Valley (Spring Valley, S.C.) 13-0 22
22 Memphis Central (Memphis, Tenn.) 8-5 28
23 North Little Rock (North Little Rock, Ark.) 10-0 29
24 Nazareth Regional (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 8-2 19
25 Princess Anne (Virginia Beach, Va.) 7-1 21
26 Incarnate Word Academy (St. Louis, Mo.) 10-1 33
27 Christ the King (Middle Village, N.Y.) 6-3 26
28 Troy (Fullerton, Calif.) 11-2 30
29 Butler (Matthews, N.C.) 12-0 31
30 Hoover (Hoover, Ala.) 15-2 35
31 Germantown Academy (Fort Washington, Pa.) 9-2 20
32 Sparkman (Harvest, Ala.) 15-1 27
33 Goose Creek (Goose Creek, S.C.) 11-2 23
34 Highlands Ranch (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) 8-2 36
35 Inkster (Inkster, Mich.) 5-0 NR
36 Clarksville (Clarksville, Tenn.) 14-3 25
37 Cypress Falls (Houston, Texas) 23-1 39
38 MacArthur (Irving, Texas) 17-2 41
39 Linn-Mar (Marion, Iowa) 10-0 44
40 Hollywood Christian (Hollywood, Fla.) 16-1 NR
41 Twinsburg (Twinsburg, Ohio) 9-0 NR
42 William Penn Charter School (Philadelphia) 10-1 37
43 St. Joseph's Academy (St. Louis, Mo.) 9-1 42
44 Mt. Lebanon (Pittsburgh, Pa.) 3-4 38
45 Oak Hill (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) 7-2 43
46 Cajon (San Bernardino, Calif.) 16-0 NR
47 Overton (Memphis, Tenn.) 10-3 24
48 Shabazz (Newark, N.J.) 7-0 NR
49 Our Lady of Good Counsel (Olney, Md.) 12-0 NR
50 Montini Catholic (Lombard, Ill.) 17-0 NR

Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back (and other items)

She's baaaaack: Candace Parker debuted for Russia's UMMC team today with 16 points and seven rebounds. Her last game was June 13, 2010 when she re-re-re-re-dislocated her shoulder.

Angel McCoughtry has jumped teams to Fenerbahce of Istanbul.

Diana Taurasi has to wait for a verdict on whether or not she can play in the WNBA and the 2012 Olympics.

Five questions with Kristin Bernert should have had a sixth question: Why the hell did you leave the LA Sparks just after the season began? I've been wondering ever since.

Pat Summitt got her star on the Riverwalk Hall of Fame today.

The freshmen of the Big 12 are already making their mark.

Oregon State is defensive-minded.

Stanford's Nnemkadi Ogwumike is expected to play tomorrow after being injured in Sunday's game against Cal.

Hawaii Coach Dana Takahara-Dias isn't afraid to learn.

Old lang syne

It's going to be a sad weekend here at Hoopism, as McArthur Court at the University of Oregon will stage its last basketball game Saturday. The Ducks' new basketball headquarters will be Knight Arena, as Mac Court, aka "The Pit" closes its doors after almost 100 years.

This was where my rabid, irrational passion for the game of basketball was born, nurtured and released. They used to call the fans "deranged idiots" in the late 70's and early 80's, and that came to include me.

Thanks, Mac Court. I'll always love you to death.