Teams around the nation are already solidifying themselves and
separating from the pack.
Unfortunately, as the season wears on for UCLA women’s
basketball team, it is becoming more evident that, for the
fourth-straight year, the team may find itself on the outside
looking in.
UCLA’s Pac-10 picture is looking even more bleak after a
70-54 drubbing by Arizona on Saturday in front of 4,350 boisterous
fans at McKale Center.
Though the loss to the Wildcats (14-4, 6-1 Pac-10) may seem like
a minor setback to a developing team, every loss for the Bruins is
magnified as their hopes for making the NCAA tournament dwindle by
the game.
However, the Bruins (8-8, 3-4) feel that there are plenty of
games left in the season to make a late run.
“The NCAA tournament is definitely not out of
reach,” freshman guard Noelle Quinn said. “I’m
very optimistic and positive that we can turn it around. We have a
lot more games left to come back, but right now we need to take it
one game at a time.”
With the loss to Arizona, UCLA’s road record fell to a
miserable 2-6. The Bruins will, however, return home for the next
four games where they have been close to unbeatable at 6-1.
“The reality is we can play at home,” coach Kathy
Olivier said. “You can ask any coach out there, and
they’ll tell you it’s difficult to win out on the road
in the Pac-10. We can’t think about our record right now.
What we need to think about is putting together a string of wins at
home, so we can feel good about ourselves when we go back out on
the road.”
Heading into the game against Arizona, UCLA seemed to shake off
its previous loss to Arizona State by picking up its intensity in
the first half.
However, in that half, the Bruins lost sophomore guard Nikki
Blue, ““ who played only 25 minutes ““ for the majority
of the game when she picked up three early fouls due to her
over-aggressiveness.
“I usually take my players out when they get two fouls in
the first half, but I left Nikki in and when she got her third, she
was handcuffed,” Olivier said. “It was frustrating,
because she couldn’t play her normal style of game and
that’s playing aggressively both offensively and
defensively.”
However, the one-two frontcourt combination of Quinn, (13
points) and sophomore guard Lisa Willis (15 points), carried the
load for the Bruins as they had a four-point edge, 27-23, at
halftime.
UCLA came out flat in the opening minutes of the second half,
eventually relinquishing its four-point lead as Arizona went on a
series of runs sparked by the its incredible 70 percent shooting
from the field.
“We didn’t know what to do,” Willis said.
“Defensively, in the second half, we were trying to help
inside, but then they started to heat it up where a hand in their
face no longer scared them. So now we couldn’t help in the
post because we were getting lit up.”
The Bruins held the Wildcats’ leading scorer, sophomore
6-foot-5 center Shawntinice Polk, in check the first half by
continuously tdouble and triple teaming her.
But as Arizona’s jumpers were falling in the second half,
Arizona built a comfortable 16-point cushion, 61-45.The improved
outside shooting allowed Polk to re-establish herself in the paint.
She finished with a game-high 21 points and 13 rebounds.
Even with a second-straight loss, Olivier believes the
team’s postseason goals are still in reach.
“It will be important for us to continue to keep our heads
up and continue to plug away,” she said.