Only one thing is certain this year for the UCLA women’s basketball team.
This team isn’t going to look anything like last year’s.
The Bruins lost five seniors, including two-time All-American Noelle Quinn. They’ve added a highly touted class of six freshmen, and they’re looking to use them all. Coach Kathy Olivier plans to use a rotation of 11 or 12 players and isn’t sticking to a single starting lineup ““ for now.
The backbone of the team, which coaches picked to finish fifth in the Pac-10, is its only senior: forward Lindsey Pluimer. She averaged 16.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game last year and is the only returning Bruin who played in more than 26 minutes per game last season.
And Pluimer, who has started in all 92 games she’s played in as a Bruin, thinks the Bruins will surprise a lot of people this year.
“I don’t think people know what to expect from us,” Pluimer said. “Because we’re so young, we’re unknown right now. But I think people will see that we have a lot of talent.
“We’re going to make a run in the Pac-10, and we’re going to have a good year.”
Last year’s Bruin team finished 14-18 and missed the NCAA Tournament. It relied heavily on Quinn, who led the team in both scoring and rebounding.
This year should be different.
“Whoever is open is going to shoot the ball and they’re going to shoot the ball with confidence, and hopefully good things will happen from there,” Olivier said. “I think we have a good 11 or 12 players that can compete.”
What adds to the intrigue of the season is the Bruins’ schedule. The Pac-10 is tough, as always, with three conference teams ranked in the top 15 of the AP preseason poll: No. 6 Stanford, No. 12 Arizona State and No. 13 California.
But the Bruins’ two most difficult games may come before conference schedule even begins.
The Bruins will take on No. 4 Maryland at Pauley Pavilion on Nov. 25 and then host the defending national champions No. 1 Tennessee on Dec. 19.
“That’s what everyone’s bringing up,” Olivier said of the Bruins’ two big matchups. “But we’re really focused on bringing it every game at the same level, regardless of who we play. … We have a philosophy that this is what we’re about, and let’s do it whoever we play.”
The depth also gives Olivier some different options. Players can play more aggressively and with high intensity no matter the circumstance simply because of the number of people she can rotate in and out of the game, she said.
The team should be a lot quicker in all aspects of the game. Last year they struggled to get the ball up the court against the full court press. This year, UCLA has quicker guards handling the ball, with freshmen Darxia Morris and Doreena Campbell both having the ability to get the ball up the court speedily.
“I don’t like to walk the ball up the court,” Morris said. “It makes the game boring.”
The primary focus in the month of practice the Bruins have had is defense. The transition defense is a facet of the game that Olivier considers especially important.
“Right now we’re talking more about our defense than we have in the past,” Olivier said. “I felt like we were more offensive-minded last year. This year, because it is so competitive within, whoever is going to play good defense is going to be on the floor.”
What’s hardest to figure out about this team is its starting lineup. Even Olivier has said she’s unsure about which players will start and that she’s more interested in which players play best together than in nailing down a set starting lineup.
Obviously, Pluimer will start. Olivier also singled out sophomore guard Erica Tukiainen, who has gotten stronger over the summer and is probably going to be featured in the Bruins starting lineup, even though she has never played more than 21 minutes in a game. Tukiainen certainly made a good first impression in her first start as a Bruin, leading the team with 19 points in its first exhibition game against Team Concept, a 94-82 win for the Bruins.
Morris, Campbell and sophomore center Moniquee Alexander also started in the Bruins’ first exhibition game.
Junior center Chinyere Ibekwe will probably start once she returns from a four-game suspension for violating team rules.
At the end of the day, it may all come back to the lone senior: Pluimer. She will play at both the small and power forward position, and she is clearly the leader of this team.
“We scrimmaged the other day and (Pluimer) played a little bit of everything,” Olivier said. “That’s a plus; you want to have versatile players. Lindsey is very open to play wherever we need her. I think she just has a very good way about her. She’s very confident, and she’s very prepared for this year.
“Wherever we put her, I think she’s going to excel.”
If Pluimer can shoulder a heavy scoring load and the Bruins can bring their freshmen along quickly, they will almost certainly have a competitive team. And despite the tough schedule, relative inexperience, departure of Quinn and poor finish last year, Olivier and her team are poised for a great season.
“When you’re at UCLA, your goal is always to get to the NCAA Tournament,” Olivier said. “If you’re not talking like that you shouldn’t be at UCLA. … You have to have high goals. That’s what it’s about.”
For now, it’s hard to say if Olivier’s team is destined to finish below .500 for a second straight year or ready to shock the conference and reach the NCAA Tournament.
The Bruins sure think it’s the latter, though.