Rebuilding ahead for w. basketball
UCLA returns just one starter from ’93 season
By Melissa Anderson
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Members of the UCLA women’s basketball team have their work cut
out for them.
The Bruins lost four starters  including Pac-10 Player of
the Year Natalie Williams  to graduation. Less than two
months later, top freshman recruit Chrystal Pakootas tore her
anterior cruciate ligament and will not see action in 1994-5. Yet
somehow, head coach Kathy Olivier has remained confident in the
young squad.
"Last year was different because we knew what to expect. We had
some expectations because we were older," Olivier said. "This year
we are young but the returners have worked hard in the off-season
and the freshmen have high expectations of themselves.
"We are going to see some good basketball."
As the only returning starter, junior center Zrinka Kristich
will have to take on the role of team leader and provide
consistency in the frontcourt.
Averaging 5.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game last season,
Kristich will need to improve those numbers to take UCLA to the
level of play it needs to be competitive in the Pac-10.
* * *
Freshmen recruits Jamie Oenning and Tawana Grimes should see
playing time in the backcourt with junior Ricarda Kuypers and
sophomore Nikki Hilbert. Grimes averaged 16 points per game last
season at Lynwood High School and helped lead the team to a CIF
Division IIA title. Oenning averaged 13 points per game and 5.7
rebounds for Woodbridge High School in Irvine.
Newcomer Aisha Veasley, a product of Valley Christian High
School, will see limited action in the frontcourt. The
5-foot-9-inch forward averaged 16.6 points per game while shooting
.556 from the field.
* * *
As a National Player of the Year candidate last year, Williams
was an obvious leader for the Bruins. This season, Olivier is
looking for all of the returners to step up and help lead the team
to what she hopes will be a winning record.
"I think that on certain days and on certain nights we’ll see
somebody stand out and on another night, it might be somebody
else," she predicted. "I think we have the potential to have, in
each game, different people to a good job for us."
With conference powerhouses Stanford, Washington and Oregon
State returning the majority of players from last year’s teams, the
Bruins’ are going to have a tough time gaining respect in the
conference.
"Stanford is probably favored to win it all because of the
people they have returning and the people they added, and
Washington and OSU will be strong too," Olivier said. "But most of
the other teams are pretty much in the same boat as us, so I think
we’ll be OK."
* * *
Kristich may be the only returning starter, but Olivier shies
away from labeling the ’94 season one of rebuilding. UCLA returns
five players who saw playing time last year and are familiar with
the level of play they will face.
"I feel like we’re rebuilding, but in a way we are not," she
said. "We have a lot of people who have played a lot of
minutes.
"I think if we continue to work as hard as we have in the
off-season, we’ll surprise a lot of teams."