UCLA women’s basketball needs to turn up the heat after a chilling visit to the East Coast this past weekend.
The unranked Duke Dogs of James Madison University served the Bruins a cold 87-91 loss in Harrisonburg, Va. on Friday, and the No. 11 University of North Carolina Tar Heels further dropped the temperature with a 84-68 win in Chapel Hill, N.C. on Sunday.
The Bruins (0-2) have spent the week defrosting: correcting mistakes, emphasizing strong points and preparing for a heated home-opener versus No. 10 University of Texas at Austin (2-0) on Nov. 23 at Pauley Pavilion.
While certain aspects of the Bruins’ game were problematic last weekend, namely fouls and turnovers, other qualities the newly formed team exhibited will prove useful against a top-10 Texas team.
“Our guard play was really strong in the first half against JMU,” said freshman guard Jordin Canada, who tallied a double-double against the Duke Dogs with 15 points and 10 rebounds. “We pushed the ball up the floor, and we got a lot of fast break opportunities to score on.”
While the UCLA backcourt was able to make transitional plays that led to field goals, rebounds were the highlight on the frontcourt.
UCLA was able to collect 10 more rebounds than UNC on Sunday.
Coach Cori Close emphasized that the Bruins’ team is full of weapons and that putting points on the board is not a problem for them. Junior guard Nirra Fields tallied a total of 47 points between both games last weekend.
This week in practice, the team has largely shifted their attention to the other side of the ball.
“Our focus has been on defense and concentration,” Close said. “When we are playing really committed defense and we’re totally locked in mentally, regardless of the circumstance, we give ourselves a chance.”
During Wednesday’s practice, Pauley Pavilion was loud with a new level of intensity.
“Exhaust your bodies and sharpen your minds at the same time,” Close yelled while eyeing her players run back and forth during a lay-up exercise.
Senior center Luiana Livulo said she was aware that the mistakes made last weekend on defense were easily preventable.
“We need to focus on the ‘controllables,’” she said.
The Longhorns are coming off a 68-48 win against the University of Texas at San Antonio last Saturday. While they are without their junior center Imani McGee-Stafford and junior guard Brady Sanders due to injuries, the Longhorns have a roster full of returners from last season.
The last time a healthy UCLA team played Texas was in 2012. They delivered the Longhorns a loss that December. Yet the Bruins are a completely different team compared to two years ago, and they face the challenge of finding cohesion among 10 new players.
The Bruins will put their newly revamped defense to the test at 1 p.m. this Sunday in an effort to snap their two-game losing streak.