Having relied on experience of its seniors last season, the UCLA
women’s basketball program has taken a sip from the fountain
of youth, and led by sophomore Nikki Blue and freshman Noelle
Quinn, the Bruins have a new look this season.
“It will be completely different this year,” Coach
Kathy Olivier said. “We’re going to be up-tempo with a
lot of different people touching the ball.”
Since senior leaders Michelle Greco and Natalie Nakase
graduated, Olivier will have to rely on the fruits of each of the
past two recruiting classes. In Blue, who was a preseason
All-Pac-10 pick, she has a guard who can push the ball up the floor
and score. In Quinn, one of the top high school players in the
country last year, Olivier has a 6-foot forward who has the ability
to penetrate and see the floor.
“We’ll have to replace (last year’s seniors)
with several different players,” Olivier said. “People
think Noelle is going to come in and do it all, but she likes to
share the ball and get her teammates involved. And then
there’s Nikki, who had a great freshman year last year. I
think she’ll have an even better year as a
sophomore.”
But while the past recruiting classes have yielded perimeter
players, the Bruins (2-2) remain limited in post players. The team
has sophomore Julia Pitts and senior Jamila Veasley, but both are
relatively thin, and it could hurt UCLA when facing the likes of
USC’s 6-foot-2 Ebony Hoffman and Arizona’s 6-foot-5
Shawntinice Polk.
Olivier also has the option of going to her bench for the more
physical freshman Amanda Livingston and sophomore Emma Tautolo. But
once again, UCLA will have to rely heavily on young, inexperienced
players.
“In some cases, you look at that and go, “˜Oh
no,'” Olivier said. “But this is a group that
knew and wanted to be in this position. They want to be in the mix
and in the starting lineup so early in their careers.”
To compensate for their lack of a post presence, the Bruins will
utilize their quickness. UCLA will likely revert to a full-court,
pressure defense, something that proved very effective for the
Bruins last season. And to help with the rebounding ““ a big
weakness last year ““ UCLA will likely crash the boards with
its guards.
“With the quickness and height that we have on the
perimeter, they’re going to help our inside players,”
Olivier said.
A sort of unsung hero in the starting lineup is guard Lisa
Willis, a tough-nosed defender with the ability to keep defenses
honest with her outside shot. Olivier sang praises about her work
ethic during the off-season and says she could very well be
UCLA’s most improved player from a year ago.
Olivier enters her 11th season in Westwood, but she has quite a
challenge ahead of her in getting UCLA back to the NCAA Tournament,
a feat that has not been accomplished since 2000. She thought the
Bruins made it last season with their 18-11 mark, but the NCAA
selection committee apparently didn’t believe their level of
competition was high enough. That shouldn’t be a problem this
year, as UCLA has taken on Texas, and will later face Ohio State
and Purdue.
But it is in Pacific 10 Conference play where the Bruins will
have to make their mark, and UCLA will likely have to finish at
least fourth or higher to be selected for postseason play.
“We came on strong last season and just missed out on the
NCAA tournament bid,” Olivier said. “This year, we will
have as much athletic talent as we have ever had in my time at
UCLA.”
That athletic talent will be young, and thus, inexperienced, and
it remains to be seen how quickly the team can gel and mature.
Still, for the first time in recent memory, expectations in
Westwood are on the ascent for the women’s basketball team
and the future looks bright.
“It’s special to help UCLA return to the top,”
Blue said. “I think the word is getting out that UCLA is on
the rise.”