With the Bruins playing their final regular season games against two opponents in the bottom half of the Pac-12 standings, it’s easy to conclude that this weekend’s games are little more than a formality. But UCLA certainly doesn’t see it that way.
UCLA will end its season on the road, taking on Arizona State and Arizona in games that could still have an impact on its postseason position. With at least one win this weekend, the Bruins clinch the third seed in the Pac-12 Tournament, which starts next week.
While Arizona State (13-15, 5-11 Pac-12) and Arizona (12-15, 4-12) might not be the most intimidating teams based on their records, UCLA is not taking either team lightly.
“As a team, we’ve learned that everyone is bringing an A-game against us,” said senior forward Alyssia Brewer.
“I think that’s a compliment to us because it means people respect us. I don’t think necessarily a lot of people did last year, so I think that’s a big compliment to our team.”
As they head into the final stretch of their college careers, UCLA’s seniors are hoping to make the most of the time they have left, starting with this weekend’s games.
“Us four seniors, we ended it good here at home, so the only complement to that is to end it good away,” Brewer said.
The idea of winning for the seniors has become a theme the rest of the team has embraced.
“It’s always sad to see our seniors have their last go-around, but we’re going to play hard for them and we’re going to try to fix our mistakes and correct them going into the tournament so we can have a better seed in the NCAA Tournament,” said redshirt junior forward Atonye Nyingifa.
With the NCAA and Pac-12 tournaments approaching, the Bruins realize they have a tough road ahead of them. That makes this weekend’s games even more significant, as No. 17 UCLA (21-6, 12-4) tries to establish momentum heading into postseason play.
“I think it’s very important,” said senior guard Mariah Williams.
“At this point, it’s not going to get easier. Every team plays really good and they’re prepared. They know everything about you in terms of your strengths and weaknesses, so to build that momentum is vital.”
In order to build that momentum, the Bruins are looking for a number of improvements in these two games. Despite their impressive regular season coming to an end, they still don’t see themselves as a finished product.
“Nowhere near close,” Nyingifa said. “Our team has a lot of chemistry things on the court that we still need to fix. I think we could limit some of our turnovers, we could crash the boards harder and increase our rebounding margin.”
Despite their desire to continue improving, the Bruins have said they are pleased with how the year turned out as they head into their final two regular season games.
“It’s a game of ups and downs, but I think this year we had more ups than downs,” Williams said.
“I think we’re still building and growing to where we want to be. I’m just thankful we have one more month to do that.”