The more Nikki Blue’s game changes, the more it stays the
same.
The Bruin point guard is playing in her last Pac-10 Tournament
with a different role than in previous years. The goal, however, is
quite similar.
When the UCLA women’s basketball team takes the floor at
HP Pavilion on Saturday morning against California, Blue will
experience a basketball eclipse of sorts.
After guiding the program as its signature scoring threat for
three years, Blue enters her last conference tournament as a
distinctly different player ““ the floor general who passes
first and scores second. Blue’s success however at the Pac-10
Tournament has not translated into wins. Blue has averaged 22
points per game in five career tournament games, but UCLA (17-10,
12-6 Pac-10) has won only one.
In her last chance to claim a conference title and to not just
make the NCAA Tournament but actually make some noise there, Blue
is trying to show that her changed play is not all for naught.
“It’s completely different this time around because
I am looking to get the ball to Noelle (Quinn) or Lisa
(Willis),” Blue said. “Last year I had to do more of
the scoring. Now we just have to win with more options on the
court.”
Blue and Willis combined during last year’s opening round
of the conference tournament to score 61 of the Bruins’ 71
points, with Quinn inactive because of a torn meniscus cartilage in
her left knee, but the Bruins lost to the Arizona State Sun Devils
73-71. Quinn leads the club this season with 18.3 points and 8.1
rebounds per game. Her presence means that Blue will not be counted
on for the same type of production, but the expectations are higher
and the excuse of bad health is not allowed.
“We really have no reason not to do well,” Blue
said. “Everyone is strong and healthy. We aren’t just
looking to make the NCAAs, but do some damage. To do that, we need
to take care of business.”
Third-seeded UCLA’s matchup with sixth-seeded California
(18-10, 10-8) doesn’t just feature the star power of Blue,
Quinn and Willis. Cal has a formidable trio of its own with the
emerging freshmen Alexis Gray-Lawson, Ashley Walker and Devanei
Hampton. The guard play of Gray-Lawson, averaging 14.6 points per
game, and Walker, averaging 13.1 points and 7.7 rebounds per game,
gave the Bruins fits during a 65-58 Golden Bear win at the end of
December. And the size and strength of Hampton overmatched junior
forward Amanda Livingston in UCLA’s 90-87 overtime win at
Pauley Pavilion only five weeks ago.
“They have three dominant freshman who are going to be a
real force for a while,” UCLA coach Kathy Olivier said.
“Keeping Hampton from getting too many easy baskets will be
huge for us.”
Olivier is not sure experience is a big factor, with
UCLA’s three best players all having scored over 1,000 points
in their UCLA career and Cal’s three best players not even
through their second semester.
“You could argue it either way,” she said.
“Maybe we play better because we have been there before or
maybe they just play with a recklessness and intentiy because they
are so young.
“I know it’s sounds boring, but it’s all in
our heads. If we stay focused, I like our chances.”
TRIPLE YOUR PLEASURE: UCLA’s trio of
Blue, Quinn and Willis have all been named by the league’s
coaches as first-team selections to the All-Pac-10 Conference Team.
Blue earned her fourth consecutive first-team award, and Quinn and
Willis both received their second honor.
Stanford sophomore guard Candice Wiggins was selected Pac-10
Player of the Year for the second straight season, and Cal’s
Gray-Lawson was named Freshman of the Year. Stanford coach Tara
VanDerveer was selected as the Pac-10 Coach of the Year for the
eighth time in her career.