The Bruins hope the third time is the charm.
Having already lost twice to national No. 2 Stanford (27-4) this season, the UCLA women’s basketball team (19-11) will look to advance to the Pac-10 Tournament final.
But beating a highly potent Cardinal team tonight at the Galen Center won’t be easy.
“(Stanford’s) Jayne Appel needs to be a little sick and Kayla Pedersen maybe misses the bus,” UCLA coach Nikki Caldwell said jokingly following the Bruins’ 62-56 victory over Oregon State on Friday night. “Stanford is the best in our conference right now, and we’ve measured up with them. We’ve competed with them. We just have to do it for 40 (minutes).”
The Bruins fell by 17 at Stanford on Feb. 1 and by 11 in Pauley Pavilion on Feb. 27.
The teams also have history in the Pac-10 Tournament. Since its commencement in 2002, UCLA is the only team besides Stanford to win the Pac-10 Tournament. Three years ago, the Bruins, led by current WNBA players Nikki Blue and Noelle Quinn, beat the Cardinal 85-76 in overtime to earn the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. Stanford has been the No. 1 seed in all eight years of the Tournament’s existence.
The Cardinal have won 14 straight games, the most recent coming Friday night by a 77-46 score over Arizona.
A win tonight, in Caldwell’s view, would ensure the Bruins an NCAA Tournament bid.
“This team has shown that on any given day we can compete, and compete with any team in the country,” Caldwell said.
“The only thing that I ask of this team is that they lay it all on the line.”