COLLEGES: PEPPERDINE WOMEN FALTER AGAINST SDSU.

Byline: RAMONA SHELBURNE  Staff Writer

The UCLA women's basketball team would prefer to be a fastbreak, run- and-gun team. But in the past few games, when their shots were falling near the 30 percent clip, the Bruins (7-6) have shown an ability to get back into games with their defense.

On Wednesday night, UCLA's swarming full-court trap forced No. 15 California into 15 second-half turnovers and flipped a 10-point deficit into a 77-68 overtime victory.

Sophomore guard Tierra Henderson led the defensive effort with four of the Bruins' 11 steals. Henderson ranks second in the Pac-10 with 2.58 steals per game.

``If our shots aren't falling, we have to rely on our defense,'' said senior forward Amanda Livingston, who paced UCLA's upset with 16 points, 10rebounds and five assists. It was Livingston's fourth double-double on the season.

The victory was UCLA's first in five tries against Top 25 teams.

Estrada is top frosh: UCLA freshman David Estrada was named the national Freshman of the Year by Soccer America. The walk-on from Salinas led UCLA in scoring with 12 goals and 28 points, the most by a Bruin freshman since Joe-Max Moore had 32 points in 1990. Estrada scored 11 of his 12 goals over the Bruins' final 13 games of the season.

Sophomore midfielder Sal Zizzo, freshman forward Kyle Nakazawa and freshman midfielder Michael Stephens were also honored by the publication. Zizzo was one of 11 MVPs (the equivalent of an All-American award), and Nakazawa and Stephens were named to the all-freshman team.

Also: Valencia High senior guard Charise Hall and Oxnard High senior forward Bianca Davies have signed letters of intent to play for Cal State Northridge next season. Hall, a 5-foot-10 guard, averaged 7.9 points and 6.1 rebounds as a junior. Davies, a 5-foot-11 post, averaged 9.6 points and 7.7 rebounds as a junior.