Monday, Nov. 29, 2004 | 9:26 a.m.
SUN WIRE REPORTS
Three years ago, when Nikki Blue spurned perennial national championship contender Connecticut and chose to come to UCLA and help rebuild the program, she envisioned days like Sunday.
Noelle Quinn had the same dreams two years ago when she chose the Bruins over four-time defending Pacific-10 Conference champion Stanford.
In Blue's and Quinn's first season together in Westwood, the Bruins had come close to pulling off upsets but always seemed to end up a few points short. In the first round of the NCAA tournament last season, Blue scored a career-high 33 points as UCLA nearly upset Final Four-bound Minnesota. That garnered UCLA votes in the Top 25, but no ranking.
On Sunday, UCLA finally completed the task, rallying from a 17-point, first-half deficit to upset No. 4 Texas 63-60 in front of 1,525 at Pauley Pavilion.
"This is what it's all about," said Blue, who scored 13 points and dished off four assists despite a badly sprained ankle that has kept her out of practice for almost a month. "This whole year is about showing people that UCLA is here."
It was the Bruins' first win against a top-10 program since 1999, when UCLA upset then-No. 8 North Carolina 69-65.
Early on, UCLA (3-1) didn't seem like a team capable of beating the No. 4 team in the country. The Bruins missed 15 of their first 16 shots. Quinn missed her first 10.
Texas (2-2) led 31-14 with a little more than two minutes remaining before the break, but Quinn and Blue heated up and UCLA went on a 9-2 run to close out the half.
"In my opinion, we lost the game in the first half," said Texas coach Jody Conradt.
Quinn found her stroke in the second half. She scored 17 of her game-high 27 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including the game-winner, a 3-footer with 16.7 seconds remaining.
"I start a lot of games like that; I have to find my comfort zone," Quinn said. "But I've learned that I can't get down on myself because my team needs me."
The Lady Vols (4-1) trailed in the first half until Alexis Hornbuckle scored on a driving layup at the buzzer for a 23-22 halftime lead.
Temple (2-2) held the lead four times in the second half, and took a 45-43 lead with 4:44 left when Moore made two free throws. Zolman made a 3-pointer to give Tennessee the lead for good.
Ashley Graham led the Broncos (1-3) with 18 points.
Lindsay Bowen led Michigan State (4-1) with 33 points, including six 3-pointers. Kelli Roehrig had 22 points and pulled down 12 rebounds for the Spartans.
T'Nae Thiel got a steal and made both free throws in the final seconds to lift Stanford (5-0). Kelley Suminski had 13 points and Wiggins added 11. Thiel finished with eight points and eight rebounds.
Erin Grant led the Lady Raiders (1-1) with 18 points and Chesley Dabbs added 12 points and six boards.
Genny Mueller led Bradley (3-1) with 26 points and Jen Brown had 15.
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