KEITH ENRIQUEZ/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Senior center
Malika Leatham crashes the boards in a win against
BYU earlier this season. Since last month, UCLA has gone 2-8.
By Bruce Tran
Daily Bruin Contributor
It was just over a month ago that the UCLA women’s
basketball team seemed on the verge of a breakout season.
Anticipating the return of star forward Kristee Porter and led by
team MVP Michelle Greco, UCLA was 3-1 with impressive victories
over BYU, Ohio State and Liberty.
How times have changed. In the month since, the Bruins have lost
Greco to injury and Porter, who was a crucial force in the post
last year, has left the team to play professional volleyball. In
that same month, UCLA has gone 2-8.
“We’ve been hit with one thing after another,”
UCLA head coach Kathy Olivier said. “Both Michelle and
Kristee are very talented, but we’re just going to have to
find a way to do it on the perimeter without Michelle. Now
it’s the post’s turn to try to find a way to do it
without Kristee.”
In last Sunday’s game against Washington State, UCLA (5-9,
2-4 Pac-10) did find a way, rolling to a 76-64 victory. In the
post, senior center Shalada Allen tallied 16 points and eight
rebounds. Meanwhile, on the perimeter, junior point guard Natalie
Nakase scored a career-high 24 points, going 3-of-8 from
three-point range.
“You have to take advantage of opportunities,” said
Nakase, who also had eight assists and zero turnovers. “Their
defense was playing way off me, and we needed scoring.”
The Bruins now face a stiffer challenge in Sunday’s
matchup with USC at Pauley Pavilion. The Trojans (8-7, 4-2) are
playing their best basketball, having won five of their last seven
games.
Led by center Ebony Hoffman and guard Aisha Hollans, USC relies
heavily on physical play to wear down and intimidate opponents.
Hoffman is averaging 14.4 points and 8.5 rebounds per game, but
Hollans has had the hot hand as of late. She was named the Pac-10
Player of the Week for her solid performances against the
Washington schools, averaging 24.5 points and 10.5 rebounds.
“They play a very different brand of basketball than most
teams,” Allen said. “They’re not very good
shooters, but they do play hard. They are extremely
physical.”
The Bruins will counter with a balanced scoring attack and an
aggressive defense. With all five current starters hovering around
7.0 points per game, there is no longer an offensive standout.
Defensively, however, UCLA has been stellar, leading the Pac-10 in
steals and turnover margin.
“Basically, our defense is our offense,” Allen said.
“If we get some turnovers, we can score easy points in
transition, helping us win. It’s going to be hard to win
without our stars, but we need this win to boost ourselves
up.”
Last year, the teams split the series, with each team winning on
its home court. The games were characterized by intense physical
play that only the USC-UCLA rivalry can produce.
“We can’t get wrapped up in their style of
basketball,” Olivier said. “We have to play our game.
It’s very important that we go out there and give 100 percent
instead of just sitting there and feeling bad about what’s
going on with Michelle and Kristee.
“It’s time to represent UCLA as best we can.
It’s time to just play basketball.”
After all that has happened, it’s all they can do.