Turnovers becoming costly for lady hoopsters
Turnovers prove costly in losses to Huskies, Cougars
By Hye Kwon
Coming off two losses against the Washington schools last week,
the UCLA women’s basketball team is putting a major emphasis on
ball control in preparation for this week’s competition.
The Bruins, (6-7 overall, 1-3 in Pac-10), take on Arizona State
Thursday and Arizona Saturday, both at Pauley Pavilion. Despite the
fact that the Pac-10 season is relatively young, UCLA could sink to
the bottom of the conference (at 1-5) if they suffer a sweep at the
hands of their desert foes.
According to head coach Kathy Olivier, the key to avoiding that
scenario is taking care of the basketball.
"We committed too many turnovers last week," Olivier said. "Our
key players are turning the ball over, but once we start taking
care of the ball, we’ll beat our opponents."
One player for the Bruins who is establishing herself as one of
the very best players in the conference is Kisa Hughes. Hughes
started the season relatively unheralded with a career
scoring-average of five points per game, but she is an unknown no
longer.
"I think Hughes is very hard to stop," Olivier remarked.
"Everyone knows that we want to go to Kisa. They’re doubling her
and keying on her but they’re not stopping her."
In the game against Washington State, Hughes scored 23 points
and grabbed 12 rebounds. Against the Huskies two nights later,
Hughes scored a team-high 21 points and pulled down nine rebounds.
And this effort came despite the fact that she had to go up against
Rhonda Smith, an all-conference center.
Hughes entered this week ranked fourth in the Pac-10 in scoring
average, (17.8), first in field goal percentage, (.592), eighth in
blocked shots per game, (0.7) and first in rebounds per game,
(11.0).
Also playing well for UCLA is Kellie Bennett. After transferring
from Long Beach State and sitting out the last two seasons, the
senior power forward is finally getting a chance to play.
The last three games in which she started for UCLA, Bennett has
averaged 12.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. Against Washington,
she scored 13 points in the second half to keep the game in reach
for the Bruins. She shot 67 percent from the floor and finished
with a career-high 18 points against the Huskies.
One pleasant surprise for the coaches has been Bennett’s long
distance shooting. She is responsible for seven of 11 Bruin
three-point shots in Pac-10 play. Her individual percentage is also
seven out of 11, which is 63.6 percent.
Sophomore guard Nikki Hilbert has also been a steady
contributor. She has started all 13 games and has increased her
scoring average to 12 points per game. She has scored in double
figures eight times this season and in eight of the last 10
games.
She is also one of the best conditioned players on the squad,
averaging a team-high 33 minutes per game. She has played 38.3
minutes per game the last three contests, and against the Huskies,
she went the distance and played 40 minutes.
* * *
After finishing the month of December strong with a record of
4-2 and an overall record of 5-3, the Bruins have lost four out of
five games in January.
UCLA is currently tied with California for eighth place in the
Pac-10 standings. Stanford is the only undefeated team remaining in
the conference.