Olivier pleased with balance
All of w. hoops’ 10
players scored
against UC Irvine
By Hye Kwon
The UCLA women’s basketball team hammered UC Irvine for the
fifth consecutive time Monday and it accomplished the victory in
grand fashion. Kisa Hughes played the game of her life in what was
the first victory of the year for the Bruins (1-1 overall).
In the five meetings between the two schools over the last 20
years, the Bruins have outscored the Anteaters, 440-278. Going back
to the 1974-75 season, UCLA’s 106-13 win over Irvine still stands
as the Bruins’ most lopsided win.
Monday night’s contest, however, ended up to be too close for
comfort. After building a 28-point lead in the first half, a
combination of sloppy play on the Bruins’ part and tremendous
hustle on the Anteaters’ part made it as close as 13 points with 10
minutes left on the clock. Despite the fact that UCLA was leading
the entire second half, it seemed as if they were playing not to
lose instead of playing to win.
"I think we have the tendency to make strides and then fade
back," UCLA head coach Kathy Olivier said. "We do some good things
and then fade back. That’s the lack of experience more than
anything else."
If receiving solid contributions from a lot of players provides
the solution to the lack of experience, the Bruins are headed in
the right direction as evidenced by Monday’s contest against UC
Irvine.
All 10 of the players on the roster put in solid contributions,
and that included freshmen Jamie Oenning and Aisha Veasley.
Initially, Oenning had trouble handling the full court press in
the first half, committing a number of turnovers, but she settled
down nicely to contribute four points and three assists.
Although Oenning is only months removed from playing at
Woodbridge High School in Irvine, she will be a critical player
down the road for the Bruins because she is the only true back-up
point guard on the team.
"I think that we will definitely have different people leading
the way each game," Olivier said. "I don’t think we’ll have one
player dominating all year."
If UCLA wants to upset other Pac-10 teams this season, balanced
scoring might be their ticket. Other teams cannot key on one or two
players because anyone could have a career-high game on any given
night.