W. hoops hopes to continue dominance over WSU
By Hye Kwon
The UCLA women’s basketball team better not be looking ahead to
Saturday’s showdown with No. 15 Washington when it travels up to
the Pacific Northwest, because this evening they must first take on
a dangerous Washington State team at Pullman, Wash. Despite two
losses to Stanford and California last week, the Cougars (7-4
overall, 0-2 in Pacific-10) can be a big obstacle for UCLA.
Ever since the 1991-92 season, the Bruins (6-5, 1-1) have
dominated games between the two schools, racking up wins the last
seven occasions. But this time the Cougars are hungry for a win.
After winning seven of nine games to start the season, they are
currently on a three game losing streak. In addition, only Stanford
came away from last week’s competition with two wins. Competing in
a Pac-10 conference that is showing such tremendous parity, the
Cougars do not want to start the season at 0-3.
"We need to get hot and get on a winning streak in the
conference," WSU head coach Harold Rhodes said. "It’s a simple
formula for us: take better care of the ball and we’ll win
games."
The Cougars have a couple of guns at their arsenal in junior
forward Jenni Ruff (14.3 points per game) and senior center Kireen
Ellis (13.9 points per game). Against California, Ellis had 25
points and 16 rebounds while Ruff scored 19 points.
WSU also has a tremendous outside threat in Susie Jarosch, who
made seven of eleven 3-point shots in the Cougar loss against
Kansas State two weeks ago. Adding to that list of talent is
forward Amy Saneholtz, who is shooting 55.3 percent from the floor,
ranking her second in the Pac-10, behind only UCLA’s Kisa Hughes
(58.5 percent).
"As a coach, you worry about a team like Washington, because
they always come out ready to play," UCLA head coach Kathy Olivier
said. "And they love to play against the Bruins."
In the Oregon State game, Olivier benched starting point guard
Ricarda Kuypers to send a message to her to pick up her intensity.
Kuypers responded to that call, scoring a career-high 17 points in
the victory over the Beavers. However, there is still a lingering
question mark attached to the Bruin lineup for this evening’s game
because Olivier is still somewhat unhappy about the play of
Kuypers.
"She did a good job (against Oregon State) as far as scoring a
lot of points is concerned but there’s other things that we expect
from her," Olivier remarked. "But she’s learning and getting better
everyday and we will go with (Kuypers) at point for the Washington
State game."
One thing the Bruins are doing extremely well this season is
playing solid defense. Much of their success can be attributed to
the play of guards Tawana Grimes and Nikki Hilbert. They add
quickness and agility to the pressing Bruin defense, which has held
all of their opponents to under 50 percent shooting from the floor,
with the exception of North Carolina Charlotte which shot 53.1
percent.
"UCLA is probably the most improved team, defensively, in the
league," Rhodes said. "They put a lot of pressure on you and they
work hard."
But defense is also something in which Washington State takes
pride. The Cougars have allowed just five players the entire season
to break the 20-point barrier and they have also forced their
opponents to commit 27.2 turnovers a game. In addition, when they
commit less turnovers than their opponents, they are 6-0.
The key to tonight’s game will be getting out to a fast lead.
Both teams have demonstrated this season that they do not generally
come back when they trail at halftime. The Cougars are 1-4 when
they trailed at halftime, while the Bruins are 1-3. Conversely, WSU
is 6-0 when they lead at the break, while UCLA is 4-1.