The three-game winning streak? Been there.
The good vibes after a sweep over the Washington schools? Done
that.
And the crashing back to Earth after being routed by the Arizona
schools? Well, that’s still to be determined.
A little over a month ago, the UCLA women’s basketball
team took on the Arizona schools while on a three-game winning
streak, and the Bruins promptly got swept. A similar pattern of
events have UCLA thinking déjà vu, but the team is hoping
for a different outcome this time.
“This time has to be different,” said coach Kathy
Olivier. “We finally have some momentum, and we’re
going home. But to keep that going, we have to take it one game at
a time and take care of Arizona.”
The Bruins’ recent good vibes are largely the result of
their offensive outburst ““ led by freshman Noelle Quinn,
whose recent play has her pulling away for Pac-10 Freshman of the
Year honors. During the three-game winning streak, Quinn has
averaged 23.3 points and 10.7 rebounds a game.
Even more important to Olivier is the play of the bench. In
particular, different players have stepped up in different
games.
“It’s not just the three guards,” Olivier
said. “Anyone can bring it, and I love that about our team.
We’re maturing, and that’s a point of emphasis that
I’ve been making. Each game, we have to grow.”
Not that it will be easy to keep doing that. Arizona is
currently first in the Pac-10, having supplanted Stanford. The
Wildcats defeated UCLA last month 70-54, behind 6-foot-5 sophomore
center Shawntinice Polk’s 21 points and 13 rebounds. The
Bruins also shot a meager 29.7 percent from the field.
The Bruins will have to do a better job against Polk to have a
chance at the win.
“It will be hard to stop her,” Olivier said.
“We’ve got several options, but the moment you focus on
her too much, they’ve got those shooters.”
Olivier is speaking of Wildcat guard Dee-Dee Wheeler, who has
quietly led Arizona in scoring while standing in Polk’s
shadow.
“We’re feeling pretty good about ourselves,”
Olivier said. “It’s been good to get those wins under
our belts, and I like the way the team is feeling with Arizona
coming here.”
Still, for UCLA to keep the good vibes flowing, the Bruins will
have to keep history from repeating itself.