Patience really is a virtue these days for the women’s basketball team.
Coach Kathy Olivier’s Bruin team has lost two straight close games, last Sunday against No. 3 Maryland and Wednesday at Pepperdine. With six new freshmen in the mix, Olivier and her staff are still trying to sort things out.
The team will play its next four games on the road before facing off against No. 1 Tennessee on Dec. 19 at Pauley Pavilion.
“You regroup and you go back to the basics after two losses like this,” Oliver said. “We’re still building on a foundation right now. I don’t think we need to panic, we just need to get things right.”
The Bruins (3-2) will have an opportunity to work things out this weekend as they travel to Reno, Nev. for the Nugget Classic on the campus of the University of Nevada. The Bruins will face Idaho State on Saturday and either Southern or Nevada on Sunday.
The Bengals of Idaho State went to the NCAA tournament last season after winning the Big-Sky conference championship. They have started this year winning four of their first six games.
Center Natalie Doma is Idaho State’s leading scorer, and had 26 points and 15 rebounds in the team’s last win. Doma may be guarded in the post by UCLA forward Lindsey Pluimer, who leads the Bruins in scoring.
The Bruins haven’t relied on one single player so far this season. Olivier uses a rotation of 11 or 12 players and has been willing to give the freshmen significant minutes.
“It’s not about one person taking all the responsibility,” Olivier said. “We have to remember that, it’s not just one person that has to carry us.”
Five Bruins are averaging more than 10 points per game: Pluimer (15.6) and four freshmen, Doreena Campbell (12.8), Nina Earl (10.8), Darxia Morris (10.4) and Regina Rogers (10.4).
But while the team has had no trouble scoring points, averaging 84 points per game, defense has been the issue.
The Bruins allowed 91 points in the tough loss to Pepperdine, more than they had allowed in any game all season. While playing a man-to-man defense in that game, the Bruins sent the Waves to the free throw line 35 times.
Olivier has tried to mix things up with a zone defense, although that has left the Bruins vulnerable on the perimeter.
“It’s good to have a different look, so we like to mix it up with a zone,” Olivier said. “(When we play zone) we have to communicate and we have to be active. A lot of times people think zone and they’re stagnant.”
More than anything the challenge for UCLA is finding an identity, a group of players that it can turn to down the stretch. The Bruins gave up a big lead in the loss to Maryland and had a chance against Pepperdine before the Waves went on a 7-0 run in less than a minute.
“We’re still looking at different combinations,” Olivier said. “It’s more of a positive that we have so many combinations. The negative is that we still have to figure everything out.”
The Bruins will have to do so on the road against some tough teams. After the Nugget Classic UCLA faces two teams that made the NCAA tournament last year, San Diego and BYU.
“It’s a good opportunity to see where we are,” Olivier said. “I think it’s going to be a very, very good test.”