This weekend, the UCLA women’s basketball team will be put
to a test it cannot afford to fail.
After losing to No. 19 Arizona last Saturday, the Bruins (11-5
overall, 6-1 Pac-10) have fallen from their undefeated throne in
the Pac-10.
They play the current conference leader No. 5 Stanford (14-1
overall, 6-0 Pac-10) tonight at Pauley Pavilion. If the Bruins
lose, they will join the ranks of Arizona and Washington with two
conference losses.
The test will continue, albeit not as dauntingly, on Sunday when
UCLA plays Cal (6-9 overall, 2-4 Pac-10).
Although the Bruins have the home-court advantage for
tonight’s game, the Cardinals have won 27 straight conference
games and have not lost on the road since March of 2001.
“We have a lot of issues with Stanford. They’re very
talented,” UCLA head coach Kathy Olivier said.
“You take a breath and they’re ahead. We tend to
take a few breaks here and there ““ that’s going to cost
us. We need to play 40 solid minutes of basketball.”
If the Bruin defense takes half a breath, Stanford’s
powerful shooters will wreak havoc on the Pauley Pavilion
scoreboard. Although senior guard Michelle Greco still leads the
Pac-10 in points per game with 18.6, the Cardinal’s Azella
Perryman, Kelley Suminski and Sebnem Kimyacioglu also average in
double-digits.
Stanford’s biggest scoring threat is preseason
All-American junior Nicole Powell. She will be playing her seventh
game of the season after being sidelined with a bulging disc in her
lower back earlier this year. The 6-foot-2-inch Powell leads
Stanford in scoring and averages a double-double with 15.8 points
and 10 rebounds per game.
“(Powell) really has a knack for the game,” Olivier
said. “She drives hard to the boards and has a great height
advantage.”
Defensively, UCLA’s rebounding must improve against
conference-leader Stanford, who out-rebounds opponents by 10.5
boards per game.
“When we lost Julia Pitts, we lost a lot of rebounding and
we’re working on that,” Olivier said.
While the Bruins need to improve on the glass against Stanford,
they must also avoid a letdown when they host Cal on Sunday.
“UCLA’s talented and they play hard,” Golden
Bears’ head coach Caren Horstmeyer said. “They have
gained a lot of confidence in the past month.”