On one end of the court, the defense was sweating through a drill with the scout team as assistants shouted instructions. On the other end, two players sprinted up and down the floor, hoping that this set would be the last one for the afternoon.
Coach Nikki Caldwell looked on, whistle in mouth, eyes focused on the movement of her players as they darted after their assignments. A shot goes up. Swish.
The whistle immediately blows, and Caldwell raises her voice in frustration.
“What happened? Why don’t I hear talking going on?” Caldwell said imploringly, only somewhat rhetorically.
The second-year coach is tenacious to say the least. While defense and rebounding remain priorities, it is toughness and hustle that Caldwell and her staff most desire.
“That is something you can improve on,” said Caldwell, following a strenuous practice prior to her team’s opening road trip to Iowa. “It doesn’t matter if it’s home or road. We have to have toughness.”
Coming off a 19-12 inaugural season with the Bruins, Caldwell is focused on one goal: reaching the NCAA Tournament. The Bruins haven’t reached the postseason since 2006, meaning no players on the current roster have reached the tournament.
A former standout as a player at Tennessee, Caldwell has a plethora of NCAA experience both as a player and an assistant coach. It is this experience that many of the players believe will help them finally break through the postseason barrier.
“It does help that she’s been there,” junior point guard Doreena Campbell said. “She knows what it will take for us to get over that hump.”
Although the Bruins improved on their record last season and reached the semi-finals of the Pac-10 Tournament, UCLA’s absence in the NCAA Tournament still lingered in the minds of many players, especially the more experienced members of the team.
That mindset was carried over into Caldwell’s decision to decline a possible invitation to the WNIT, a tournament for teams that do not make it into the NCAA tourney, showing that it was NCAA or bust for this team.
“Last year was a successful season in some ways, but we didn’t get to the tournament,” Campbell said. “So it may have seemed good, but it really wasn’t. We really want to get to that tournament.”
With the loss of center Chinyere Ibekwe to graduation, the Bruins are a smaller squad and require increased focus on the defensive end and a great effort on the boards to make their first tourney appearance since 2006.
“The main focuses are help defense and rebounding,” Campbell said about size concerns. “We don’t have a choice. You just have to rebound.”
Caldwell agreed with her point guard’s assessment.
“We’re not going to be one of the tallest teams in the country, but we can still be one of the more aggressive attacking teams,” Caldwell said. “The question is: How hard are we going to play this game? That’s an intangible that doesn’t show up in the stat sheet. How effectively can we defend?”
“Our focal point is to force you out of your action,” Caldwell added. “We want to be disruptive in that manner, and that will force the other team to make plays out of broken plays.”
On the offensive end, the Bruins are still looking for a go-to scorer.
There are potential game-breakers littered throughout the UCLA roster, including Campbell, a second-team All-Pac 10 honoree last year, and Darxia Morris, another junior guard who had a break-out campaign last year.
“We want to teach (Morris) how to be a great scorer for this team, and the way she can do that is not necessarily to shoot the basketball,” Caldwell said. “Sometimes that’s a hard sell for a young lady who is very talented, but she’s done a great job in making those strides to be that kind of player.”
Senior Erica Tukiainen, an experienced sharpshooter, can hit big shots in the closing moments of tight games. Though acknowledging the importance of hitting open shots, Tukiainen remains focused on her role as a leader on this young squad and improving her defense.
Caldwell hopes that a team-first mentality guides the Bruins to new heights as they face a considerable challenge in a powerful conference.
“I can think that UCLA can become a team that can be respected nationally each year, and each recruiting year we’re going to go out and sign the best class we can,” she said. “Winning a Pac-10 Championship and getting into postseason play is just a destination point. Our goals every day need to be based on what we’re achieving in practice.”