W. hoops to take on Oregon
Bruins will use defense to attack
Ducks’ momentum
By Emmanuelle Ejercito
Daily Bruin Staff
The UCLA women’s basketball team will play the first part of a
pivotal road trip in Oregon tonight as it tips off against the
Ducks in Eugene.
With only two games separating the third and eighth place teams
in the Pac-10, the Bruins need a win against Oregon to stay in the
top half of the conference. But Oregon is not a team of sitting
Ducks.
Last season, the Ducks finished fourth in the Pac-10 with an
11-7 record. Though it seemed they would not match last year’s
success after losing four of the first five conference games, the
Ducks have recently turned it around. Oregon has won three in a
row, including a sweep of the Arizona schools in the desert.
"They just came back from Arizona … and I think that was a
tough place to win," UCLA head coach Kathy Olivier said. "I know
that maybe they weren’t as tough as they were last year, but they
are still tough."
With the graduation of Sally Crowe and Jessica Schutt, the Ducks
lost a major part of their offensive production. Crowe and Schutt
were the top free throwers for Oregon, and Crowe produced almost
half of the team’s assists.
Stepping up for this season’s Ducks is junior Arianne Boyer.
Boyer leads Oregon (11-6 overall, 3-4 Pac-10) in both rebounding
and scoring. The junior averages 17.2 points and 8.3 rebounds,
while All Pac-10 selection Renae Fegent averages 13.9 points and
7.5 rebounds.
"They are a really steady team and if our defense doesn’t bother
them then we will be in trouble," Olivier said. "So we’ve got to
play very aggressive defense. We are going to press them some and
try to trap them a lot and get them to turn the ball over."
The Ducks also plan to concentrate on defense. Oregon leads the
Pac-10 in scoring defense, holding its opponents to only 58.9
points per game.
"We are just going to try and play good defense," Oregon head
coach Jody Runge said. "(We will) make them shoot from the outside,
not give them any transition baskets and hopefully try and force
them into a poor shooting percentage."
Senior Allison Arredondo, with her 5.5 points per game and 50
percent shooting off the bench, could be instrumental for a victory
in McArthur Court.
"What we might do is that we might put Allison as a wing sub to
get her into the offense and maybe get her to hit some outside
shots," Olivier said. "We need someone to be able to hit the
outside shot for us to be able to open up the inside."
Poor outside shooting stifled the Bruins against the zone
defense of Southern California. UCLA (9-7, 4-3) has had trouble
with scoring opposite the zone due to its lack of perimeter
shooting. And the slow-tempo game of Oregon might prove to be
troublesome for the Bruins.
"We are going to have to really be patient on offense," Olivier
said. "We are going to have to dominate on the boards and we really
haven’t been able to do that."
SUSIE CHU/Daily Bruin
Fierce defense has been a trademark of the UCLA women’s
basketball team. throughout this season and will be a key
determinant of tonight’s contest at Oregon.
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