Sometimes the biggest battle is complacency.
Going into what would eventually be an 80-64 win over Cal Poly (1-3) on Sunday afternoon, the women’s basketball team (3-1) had every right to feel comfortable with its position.
The Bruins had won 15 straight games at home, including the entirety of conference play last year. They were coming off a 48 point win less than 48 hours prior, and they were playing a Mustang team that had a losing record.
“I’m not very happy with our performance today,” said coach Cori Close. “I didn’t think we played with great urgency, with great focus. This is less than our best, and we have to take ownership of that.”
The team didn’t struggle to win the game – UCLA was up by 22 points at halftime and the game never got particularly close afterward, but it didn’t look like the No. 9 team in the nation.
“We have to improve just real, mental focus,” Close said. “That (idea that) ‘I got to be dependable to know my job and do my job just every time down.’”
Junior guard Jordin Canada, who has never had much of a problem focusing, dominated the game and finished with an uncanny stat line of 19 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists on seven of nine shooting. Another assist would have given her a second straight triple double, the first time a Pac-12 player would have done that in 14 years.
Her teammates knew that, and with Cal Poly well in their wake, tried to make shots that would’ve given her the triple double. The team shot seemingly every time Canada passed them the ball, but ended the game on a 2-for-18 slump, leaving Canada an assist short.
“My teammates try very hard,” Canada said. “I’m glad that they tried to have my back on that.”
Still, Close was unhappy with the effort as a whole.
“(The fourth quarter) is not what I am frustrated about,” Close said. “I like their spirit of trying to root for each other and create things for each other. I’m way more worried about the first three and a half quarters.”
The Bruins were taller and more athletic than the Mustangs at almost every position, but the team sometimes struggled to move the ball effectively and ended the game with 13 turnovers and only 15 assists. Though the game never came within 16 in the second half, it wasn’t the fluid passing performance the team has made a habit of.
“I don’t want us to play scared, but I don’t think that’s our problem; we play careless,” Close said. “We throw passes that need to be crisp, on target passes, and we lost ones in there and we hope it gets through.”
In the third quarter redshirt senior guard Nicole Kornet was sent to the free throw line on a play where she collided with her own teammate, junior guard Kelli Hayes. Both players laughed it off, and Hayes held up her hands like she was playing defense.
It felt like a metaphor for the entire game – they were getting in their own way.