Last Wednesday, the UCLA women’s basketball team took a
trip to a local ropes course to build camaraderie and team
unity.
Fittingly, the Bruins’ balanced offensive attack kept the
West Coast All-Stars on the ropes the entire game en route to a
90-76 victory Sunday afternoon at Pauley Pavilion.
“We wanted to approach this as a real game,” said
UCLA head coach Kathy Olivier. “I think if we take care of
the basketball a little better and make our freethrows, we can be a
pretty good team.”
Senior guard Michelle Greco led the Bruins with 26 points on
9-of-20 shooting, but the most encouraging aspect of the game was
the play of freshman Julia Pitts.
The 6-foot-2-inch forward poured in 23 points on 11-of-13
shooting and grabbed 14 rebounds to record a double-double in just
the second appearance of her collegiate career.
“I just try to use my quickness and try to get the
ball,” said Pitts, who tallied 11 points in UCLA’s
exhibition opener against Love and Basketball on Nov. 9.
“I tried my hardest to play my game out there.”
The Bruins raced out to an early 10-3 lead behind some stingy
halfcourt defense. They forced turnovers on each of the West Coast
All-Stars first four possessions, and used their quickness and
depth to maintain a single-digit lead throughout the first
half.
The All-Stars pulled to within 69- 61 midway through the second
half, but a 10-2 UCLA run capped off by a Jamila Veasley putback
gave the Bruins’ a comfortable 16-point margin that they
never relinquished.
Both Pitts and fellow freshman Nikki Blue were in the starting
lineup yesterday, and they should also start alongside seniors
Greco, Veasley, and point guard Natalie Nakase when the Bruins open
the regular season against Hawaii on Saturday in Honolulu.
“Our freshmen are getting much more comfortable,”
Olivier said. “Nikki had a real good week of practice and she
earned the starting spot. Julia is very explosive and uses her
quickness well. She definitely isn’t playing like a
freshman.”
Heading into the regular season, the Bruins are playing well but
they have a few areas to shore up. The squad shot an abysmal
21-of-40 from the free throw line including an anemic 2-of-13 from
starters Pitts and Veasley.
“We have to spend a little bit more time on that in
practice,” Olivier said. “I am going to go on record. I
expect 75 percent or better.”
If that doesn’t work, the coach has another solution.
“I’m going to make sure Greco shoots them
all,” she said.