For freshman Noelle Quinn, life just couldn’t get any
easier. During UCLA’s five-game winning streak, Quinn is
shooting 50 percent from the field en route to averaging 25 points
and 9 rebounds a game.
“I’m just in a unbelievable groove right now,”
Quinn said with a modest laugh.
Fresh off her Pac-10 Player of the Week performance for her role
in UCLA’s sweep of the Arizona schools, Quinn can afford to
flash a smile and laugh.
UCLA will need Quinn to continue her stellar play as its matchup
with Cal is virtually a must-win to keep the Bruins’ hopes
alive for an NCAA tournament bid.
“We could lose all this so easily,” Quinn said.
“Any given Pac-10 team can win on any given night. We
can’t take Cal for granted because they will play hard and
come with it. It’s imperative that we bring it
too.”
Already saddled with heartbreaking defeats to St. Mary’s
and Oregon, a bad loss to the Golden Bears would give UCLA
virtually no wiggle room going into its final two games against
Stanford and USC.
It would seem like an easy win. The Bruins have all the momentum
as the Pac-10’s hottest team while Cal struggles in ninth
place.
But Quinn is quick to remind everyone of the rough-and-tumble
world of the Pac-10.
It’s difficult to remember the circumstances surrounding
the program the last time the Bruins faced the Golden Bears. At the
time, UCLA was 8-9, 3-5 in the Pac-10. Since then, the Bruins have
won six of their last seven, including their last five in a row.
Their string of wins has placed UCLA fifth in the Pac-10, jockeying
for a position for the Pac-10 tournament and a last-ditch run at
the NCAA tournament.
Meanwhile, Cal (9-14, 2-12 Pac-10) has dropped 10 straight,
although seven of the losses have been by single digits.
“That 10-game losing streak scares me,” said coach
Kathy Olivier. “They play good basketball, but they’re
just not getting the “˜W.’ If we don’t match their
intensity, we could be in trouble.”
Olivier’s challenge is even more difficult given UCLA
takes on the top Pac-10 team in Stanford the following Saturday.
But Quinn is quick to assert that the team won’t be looking
ahead to the Cardinal.
“The Stanford game won’t mean anything if we
don’t beat Cal,” Quinn said. “We’ll need
any momentum we can get for the Saturday game.”
Cal is led by guard Nihan Anaz, who leads the team with 15
points per game. However, it was 6-foot-1 Kiki Williams who hurt
the Bruins the most in the two teams’ first meeting of the
season. Williams scored a career-high 24 points, and UCLA only
escaped with a 67-66 win on the heels of Nikki Blue’s
game-winning layup as time was running out.
“I have to get that (game-winning layup) out of my mind
and just focus on this game,” Blue said. “We’re
playing so much better than the last time we played
them.”
While the team is playing better, it will have to endure the
loss of a valuable contributor. Sophomore forward Julia Pitts will
be out for three to six weeks after undergoing surgery for a torn
meniscus in her left knee, effectively ending her season.
Other than that, momentum is the best thing UCLA has going for
it.
“The chemistry is really picking up, and it’s all
starting to come together,” Quinn said. “We’re in
such a groove right now and having a great final push. It’s
important to keep building and finish as strong as possible. We
feel like we can beat anybody right now.”
And for now, that means Cal.