Women’s team braces for the Bay

The UCLA women’s basketball team is coming off of a key home sweep of the Oregon schools this last weekend, and will head to the Bay Area for showdowns with No. 10 California (17-3, 8-1 Pac-10) and No. 7 Stanford (17-3, 7-2) later this week.

If the Bruins (11-9, 6-3) are to pull off a win in what is perhaps the toughest road swing in the Pac-10, their bench players will be a factor.

The depth of the Bruin squad is a luxury the team has not always had in the past, and coach Kathy Olivier does everything she can to exploit this advantage.

“Any day, any team, any game, one of our players will step up,” Olivier said. “We have so many weapons, and I love the versatility.”

An example of the tremendous benefits of quality depth came into play following the injury to starting point guard Darxia Morris, who missed three games with a knee injury. In her absence, the Bruins received stellar play from freshman Doreena Campbell and sophomore Erika Tukiainen, who guided UCLA to a 2-1 record during that time.

With Morris back, the Bruins look to surge forward toward the postseason.

“It was really nice to get back out on the floor,” Morris said.

Morris scored 10 points against Oregon State on Saturday to help the UCLA to a 74-70 win.

Nowhere is the versatility of UCLA more apparent than on the front line. The Bruins have no shortage of post players to rotate into game situations, with senior Lindsey Pluimer, freshmen Regina Rogers and Christina Nzekwe, sophomore Moniquee Alexander, and junior Chinyere Ibekwe garnering significant minutes.

“We’re a big team,” Olivier said. “We have good post size and want to take advantage of that.”

SLOW STARTERS: Olivier has been growing increasingly concerned with her team’s propensity for lackadaisical play at the start of games. Against USC, the Bruins were throttled on the offensive end en route to a 17-point halftime deficit from which they were unable to recover. Last Thursday, UCLA fell behind Oregon at home by as many as eight in the first half and 14 in the second before storming back for the win. Saturday saw the Bruins fall behind by 15 before pulling out the win.

“That troubles me,” Olivier said of the slow starts.

Morris concurred with her coach’s assessment.

“We have to come out focused, play 40 minutes,” Morris said.

The remedy for this is perhaps increased intensity on the defensive end, which in turn frees up fast-break opportunities for the UCLA guards. No one has been more integral to this approach than resident lock-down defender Tierra Henderson.

“My role is to bring defensive energy,” Henderson said after registering four steals in the win over Oregon State. “I thought I played good defense and helped my teammates.”

HOME COOKIN’: With their win on Saturday, the Bruins improved to 8-3 on the year at Pauley Pavilion. The three home losses have come against then-No. 1 Tennessee, -No. 3 Maryland and -No. 10 Cal. In the game against Maryland, the Bruins led most of the way before falling late.

Olivier stressed the importance of fan support in a recent postgame address.

“I really have to say a big thank-you to the crowd,” she said during a live radio interview. “You guys gave us a lot of energy.”

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