It’s almost time for the big one.
The UCLA women’s basketball team takes on the Princeton Tigers tonight in Pauley Pavilion, but anyone following UCLA women’s basketball knows tonight’s game is essentially a precursor to the Bruins’ biggest game of the season ““ a Saturday morning showdown with the No. 6 Tennessee Lady Volunteers in Knoxville, Tenn.
Since losing their regular season opener, UCLA (3-1) has won its last three contests in convincing fashion, defeating its opponents by an average of 36 points per game.
However, the Tigers (3-0) certainly will not be a walk-over for the Bruins, seeing as how Princeton has defeated each of their opponents, including Delaware in a 68-59 win in Princeton, N.J.
The Blue Hens boast 2008 McDonald’s and Gatorade National Player of the Year Elena Delle Donne, who scored 35 points and pulled down 10 rebounds in that game.
As for Tennessee, Pat Summitt’s squad is off to yet another impressive start, having begun the season by winning their first three games, including wins over No. 8 Baylor in Knoxville and at No. 15 Virginia.
UCLA coach Nikki Caldwell, a former Lady Vol player and assistant coach ““ both under the legendary Summitt ““ has definitely thrown her team into the fire against perennial powerhouse Tennessee, but Summitt herself is not taking this game lightly. She knows that Caldwell has the potential to be a outstanding coach and will have her team ready to go on Saturday.
“I felt all along she was head coach material,” Summitt said in a teleconference Tuesday morning. “She’s going to do great at UCLA. What a catch for them. She’ll have her team ready.”
But above all the hoopla about the game, Summitt is ecstatic to see Caldwell back on the court in Tennessee, no matter in what capacity.
“It’s going to be great to have Nikki Caldwell back in Tennessee,” Summitt said. “Her staff is full of Tennessee people and that’s no surprise. I think Nikki knows how to build a program with people she can trust around her.”
As Summitt said, the connections to Tennessee do not end with Caldwell. Two of Caldwell’s assistants, Tasha Butts and Tony Perotti, are both Tennessee alums.
Butts graduated in 2004 and played four seasons under Summitt. During her tenure as a Lady Vol, Butts won back-to-back national championships. After graduating, she was drafted into the WNBA in 2004, and, after one season, returned to Tennessee to serve as a graduate assistant coach.
Perotti graduated from Tennessee in 1999, and served as a Lady Vols practice player for two seasons.
As far as the rest of the season goes, the Bruins will run up against a tough Pac-10 schedule, highlighted by two match-ups with No. 2 Stanford. But Summitt has faith that UCLA, under the guidance of Caldwell and her staff, will emerge as a major player in the Pac-10 for years to come.
“Obviously, when it comes to the Pac-10 everybody talks about Stanford and deservedly so,” Summitt said. “But (Caldwell is) going to make her mark in a relatively short period of time with her program.”