It should be an exciting reunion tonight for the UCLA women’s basketball team as the Bruins take on Team Concept in an exhibition game, their first of the season.
Former Bruins Noelle Quinn and Nikki Blue will both play for Team Concept.
But there’s plenty of business for coach Kathy Olivier to handle, too.
“I love it,” Olivier said. “I think it’s great that Noelle and Nikki will be at Pauley, it’s entertaining for the fans and great for our team to play against such high-level players.”
Olivier’s team, which has only one senior and six freshmen, is looking to figure out a rotation. Olivier said Wednesday that she still hadn’t decided on a starting lineup.
The lone returning senior is forward Lindsey Pluimer, who averaged 15.5 points and 5.7 rebounds last year. No other returning Bruin averaged more than 25 minutes per game last season, a season in which the Bruins finished with a 14-18 record.
Stepping in for UCLA will be a highly touted class of freshmen: forwards Candice Brown, Nina Earl and Christina Nzekwe, guards Doreena Campbell and Darxia Morris, and center Regina Rogers.
Olivier isn’t concentrating on a starting five yet. For now she is just getting a feel for the new players and chemistry.
“To be honest I’m thinking more about combinations, not starters,” Olivier said. “I want to make sure that we know which people play better with certain people. We have a quick unit, a more defensive-minded unit. … We’ll have a lot of different looks.”
The team was picked to finish No. 5 in the Pac-10, behind Stanford, Cal, Arizona State and USC. But the Bruins could develop into a dangerous team if the freshmen can contribute.
Still, the players do not expect tonight’s game to be an easy one. Quinn and Blue are both WNBA players, and Jessica Moore of the Los Angeles Sparks plays for Team Concept as well. The professionals are playing for Team Concept as a way to maintain their conditioning during the offseason. The WNBA season starts in May.
“This team is good,” Pluimer said. “They’re very talented and pretty quick.”
The Bruins want to win this game, even though it’s an exhibition and the Bruins are mainly concerned with preparing for their regular season, which starts Nov. 14 at Cal State Northridge.
“We treat these exhibitions like we do real games,” Pluimer said. “We’re going out there to win. No one wants to lose.”
The freshmen will see ample opportunities in these first few games, especially due to the absence of junior center Chinyere Ibekwe, the team’s leading rebounder last season.
Ibekwe was suspended for the first four games of the season for violating team rules.
Intensity will be important for the Bruins during their schedule outside of the conference. The Bruins face defending No. 4 Maryland and national champion Tennessee. The Lady Vols are ranked first in the ESPN preseason poll. Both games will be played at Pauley Pavilion.
UCLA is hoping to bring an up-tempo style of play tonight that will prepare them for the upcoming challenges.
“We’re going to have our hands full (against Team Concept); I think it will be very competitive,” Olivier said. “I know that Noelle and Nikki will play extremely hard, just because of who they are and what Pauley Pavilion has done for them.”
UCLA-USC MEDIA DAY: The Bruins and Trojans held a dual media day Wednesday on the UCLA campus.
Oliver spoke along with USC coach Mark Trakh.
Trakh’s team is unranked in the ESPN preseason poll, but the coach was confident, even after his team’s tumultuous offseason.
USC’s Allison Jaskowiak Kennedy was just married to Ian Kennedy, a pitcher for the New York Yankees.
Junior guard Brynn Cameron is back after giving birth to a child fathered by former USC quarterback Matt Leinart. Cameron’s play in preseason practice has been impressive.
“She’s the best shooting mom in the country,” Trakh said of Cameron.