Just five days removed from a 61-47 road loss to No. 6 Tennessee, possibly her team’s toughest challenge of the season, UCLA women’s basketball coach Nikki Caldwell is not prepared to give her team any breaks.
“We’ve got to be able to win on the road,” Caldwell said. “We’ve got to position ourselves to play teams that have postseason experience.
That said, the Bruins will be on the road again tonight to face their second consecutive ranked opponent in as many games, the No. 24 Kansas Jayhawks.
By scheduling such a grueling back-to-back set of games, Caldwell is hoping to send the message to her squad that it needs to be better on the road if it hopes to reach this year’s postseason.
“Last year we did not fare well on the road,” Caldwell said. “We had a fairly decent home record, but our ability or inability to win on the road I thought really hurt our chances of getting into NCAA (tournament) play.
“We’ve also got to put ourselves in more hostile environments when we do travel on the road,” Caldwell added.
Caldwell certainly has made an effort to do that, especially by traveling to Tennessee, essentially the mecca of women’s college basketball, and playing in front of the more than 14,000 fans who attended the Saturday morning game.
Next up for the Bruins is a Jayhawk team that has lost its last two games, both on the road, but is undefeated at home and will be looking to get back on the right track.
And according to Caldwell, what the Bruins will go up against at Kansas will not differ much from what UCLA saw in Knoxville.
“I think Kansas is a going to be a team similar to what we had to defend against Tennessee,” Caldwell said. “They’ve got size, they’ve got athleticism, they’ve got 3-point shooters, they’ve got penetrators. So our game plan isn’t really going to waver on how we defend.”
Caldwell’s main gripe with the loss to Tennessee, however, was not her team’s defensive effort, but rather the fact that the Bruins were dominated on the boards, allowing 20 offensive rebounds to the Lady Vols.
“When toughness needed to prevail it didn’t for us,” Caldwell said. “They were more tough than we were on the boards.”
And Caldwell made it clear that UCLA cannot shoot itself in the foot again by being out-rebounded in the Kansas game.
“Hopefully, we will be a much, much better rebounding team,” she said.
One Bruin who has been doing her job on the glass for UCLA is freshman forward Markel Walker.
Against Tennessee, while many Bruins struggled offensively, Walker had her best game of the season, posting 19 points and 14 rebounds. But what was most impressive was Walker’s understanding that her team needed her to step up and have a big game.
“Everybody on this team has to play a role,” Walker said. “Our shooting wasn’t well so we had to find another point in our game to help us. I just did what I do best.”
But if the Bruins hope to avoid a two-game losing streak, Walker, who has been consistent all season, will need help from her teammates in order for UCLA to capture a huge road win.