Tonight the young women’s basketball team opens its season against a Cal State Northridge team that has already been blown out by Pepperdine and San Diego this year.
But coach Kathy Olivier is making sure her players know not to take this game lightly.
“The biggest thing is that this is Northridge’s home opener and it’s probably the biggest game they’ll play all year,” Olivier said. “We have to bring our A game.”
The Matadors have struggled mightily in their first two regular season games. They scored just 38 points at Pepperdine and lost at San Diego by 29 points.
Olivier said that Northridge has a scrappy team and also praised the Matador’s top post player, Crystal Hahs.
UCLA won both its exhibitions and Olivier plans to use the same starting lineup she used in the first exhibition win over Love and Basketball: freshman Darxia Morris at point guard, freshman Doreena Campbell at shooting guard, sophomore Erica Tukiainen at small forward, senior Lindsey Pluimer at power forward and sophomore Moniquee Alexander at center.
That starting five might not mean that much, though. Olivier has said throughout the preseason that she plans to use a rotation of 11 or 12 players.
“It’s not about who starts,” Olivier said. “It’s about who produces.”
The one player whom Olivier is counting on is Pluimer, the only senior on her roster. Pluimer averaged 15.5 points in the Bruins’ exhibition games and is the only returner from last year’s team who played more than 26 minutes per game.
With Pluimer playing the power forward position, the Bruins will have an important scoring option inside. But the senior also likes to play on the perimeter, where she can hit outside shots and feed the team’s other post players.
“The reality is that Lindsey is a senior and she can be flexible,” Olivier said. “She isn’t thrown by (switching positions). … Her versatility is such an added bonus.
“She keeps us in control.”
The surprise of the two exhibition games may have been Tukiainen, who led the Bruins in scoring in both wins.
Tukiainen did not start a game last year, but did play in all of UCLA’s games. This year she has started twice and has shot an impressive 65 percent from the floor.
“I would love that, if (Tukiainen) could lead us in scoring every game,” Olivier said.
“But if she doesn’t I know that someone else will step up.”
A player looming under the radar a bit is freshman Nina Earl. The Pomona native made all five of her shots in the Bruins’ second exhibition game.
Earl is one of six freshmen on the UCLA team.
The big story of the Bruins’ non-conference schedule is the two home matchups against No. 1 Tennessee and No. 3 Maryland. Both have a player on the AP preseason All-American team. The Lady Vols have junior Candace Parker, and Maryland has senior Crystal Langhorne.
The Bruins host Maryland on Nov. 25 and Tennessee on Dec. 19.
For now, though, Olivier has her team focused on the Matadors, not those big matchups that loom in the upcoming weeks.
“I promise we’re not talking about (Tennessee or Maryland),” Olivier said. “We really are taking it one game at a time.”