For the second time in four months, a sharpshooter for the UCLA
women’s basketball team has decided to transfer from the
program.
Sophomore guard Lauren Pedersen has asked and been granted
permission to be released from UCLA so she can transfer to another
school. Pedersen informed UCLA coach Kathy Olivier during the
women’s Final Four in Boston that she would be leaving the
program.
Pedersen will finish out the academic quarter and begin next
season at a new university. She must now sit out a full season, but
will still have two years of eligibility remaining.
Pedersen decided to leave because of a lack of playing time and
will be looking for a spot in a team’s starting lineup,
Olivier said.
Pedersen’s decision ended a season that saw highly touted
freshman Ashlee Trebilcock transfer after only her first four games
with UCLA. Trebilcock finished the fall quarter and transferred to
Ohio State, regaining her eligibility once conference play begins
in the Big Ten in January 2007.
Pedersen’s exit from the program is not anticipated to be
as detrimental as when Trebilcock, who was a second-team Parade
Magazine All-American at nearby Hart High School, left the
program.
Nevertheless, Pedersen’s transfer will leave Olivier
without much depth in the back court next season. There will be
three returning guards for UCLA ““ Noelle Quinn, Shaina Zaidi
and Tierra Henderson. The most likely to start alongside Quinn is
Henderson, who appeared in all 32 games this season but never
started.
According to Olivier, Pedersen and Henderson were to compete for
the starting position. It is uncertain who will assume senior Nikki
Blue’s role at point guard.
“I thought that the competition would have been
good,” Olivier said. “But I guess not everyone feels
that way. She wants a guaranteed starting role.”
Olivier expressed dismay that she was losing the sophomore
guard.
“Lauren is a quality person to have around the program,
and I am disappointed she is leaving,” Olivier said.
Pedersen could not be reached for comment. She was one of the
top perimeter players to be recruited out of California in 2003,
but she managed only 11 starts over her two years in Westwood.
Pedersen averaged 1.7 points in 8.5 minutes per game.