Last season, the Bruins cried, danced, and embraced after
receiving news that they had made it to the NCAA Tournament for the
first time since 2000.
Unfortunately for the UCLA women’s basketball team, this
season didn’t have that same storyline to it.
After dropping five of its last six games, including a
heartbreaking 73-71 opening-round loss in the Pac-10 Tournament to
Arizona State, the Bruins will watch this postseason from the
comfort of their living rooms and will be forced to wait until next
season for an invitation to the Big Dance.
“Our whole team is disappointed,” said UCLA coach
Kathy Olivier, whose team finished sixth in the Pac-10.
“We felt we had a very good start to a good season. During
the season, we were all extremely motivated, and I felt the energy
was flowing. But when you lose four games in a row that could have
gone either way, that’s where I get discouraged.”
The Bruins (16-12) continued to practice for the past week,
keeping open the outside chance that they would earn an at-large
bid to the NCAA Tournament. That’s what made Sunday’s
announcement, or lack thereof, so discouraging.
“We knew the position we were in, we braced ourselves for
the worst. Unfortunately, we experienced the worst,” junior
guard Nikki Blue said. “It’s kind of a weird feeling
now that our season is over. We knew that was a
possibility.”
But the Bruins’ bubble may have burst a while ago.
Midway through the season, UCLA suffered an enormous loss when
sophomore guard Noelle Quinn went down with a left knee injury
against Arizona.
Though it started the season as a fixture in the top-25 after
knocking off ranked opponents Texas and Purdue, UCLA fizzled down
the stretch.
After Quinn’s injury on Jan. 14, the Bruins won just five
of their final 13 games.
“I think that injury with Noelle took a lot out of all of
us,” Olivier said. “People stepped up, but after the
devastating injury, we needed everyone to step up.”
“When you lose a player like that, it’s difficult.
(Quinn) does so many positive things.”
For Blue, not making it to the NCAA Tournament brought back past
memories she’d rather forget.
In Blue’s freshman year, the Bruins also didn’t hear
their names called on Selection Sunday.
This season, both Blue and Olivier called each other upon
hearing that their NCAA hopes were dashed and both continued to
look at the positive side of this season.
“We know why we didn’t make it. We didn’t have
Noelle,” Blue said. “If we had Noelle, we’d be in
the tournament.”
“That’s how it goes sometimes. But we said to each
other, “˜Let’s put this behind us after today, and focus
on next year. Even if it’s far away, we can start now and
prepare ourselves.'”
So while five teams from the Pac-10 (Stanford, Oregon, Arizona
State, USC and Arizona) will continue preparing for the NCAA
Tournament, Blue and the rest of the Bruins will just have to wait,
regroup, and recuperate for next season.
“We know what we have to do next season,” Blue said.
“Motivation. We’re going to have to go on a tear early
and come out strong, and hopefully we wont have any
injuries.”