MINDY ROSS/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Junior forward
Kristee Porter lunges after an errant pass in an
attempt to keep the ball in play during a 78-56 loss to Pepperdine.
Washington d. UCLA 73-54 Â
WSU d. UCLA 74-52
By Scott Schultz
Daily Bruin Contributor
The winter recess was anything but a break for the UCLA
women’s basketball team.
The Bruins (1-12 overall, 0-2 Pac-10), who closed the fall
quarter defeating Long Beach State 86-60 at Pauley Pavilion to end
a six-game losing streak, are in the middle of a second six-game
slide.
“The team as a whole has done a good job of keeping their
heads high and really staying together through a difficult
time,” UCLA head coach Kathy Olivier said. “No one here
is used to losing, especially here at UCLA where losing is never
acceptable.”
The Bruins went into the break anticipating the return of two of
their projected starters, sophomore Nicole Kaczmarski and senior
LaCresha Flannigan, both all-Pac-10 performers.
Neither player will return this season however, as Kaczmarski
announced her intent to transfer to a school closer to her home on
the East Coast, and Flannigan was unable to regain her academic
eligibility.
With Kaczmarski and Flannigan’s status final, the players
are beginning to move on with their season.
“We know what we’re playing with now, so
that’s better for us,” senior Michelle Greco said.
“We know that the players we’re practicing with now on
the court is our team.”
On a positive note, the team added multi-sport athletes Kristee
Porter (volleyball and track) and Whitney Jones (soccer) to the
squad. They are already earning their positions on the squad,
especially Porter, who is leading the Bruins in rebounding with 7.3
per game.
“I want to become more comfortable playing with the
offense,” Porter said. “Basketball is totally different
from volleyball, and I have to get into that mind frame of
basketball and out of volleyball where there is no
contact.”
Against Long Beach State, the Bruins were led by junior Michelle
Greco, who scored a career best 34 points, and Malika Leathem, who
had eight rebounds. The Bruins led for most of the game in their
best performance of the season.
The Bruins closed 2000 with a mini-road trip, losing to Old
Dominion 86-62 and to Ohio State 79-57.
The ODU game was Kristee Porter’s debut, and she quickly
established a defensive presence for the team, leading them with
nine rebounds. The Bruins out-rebounded the Monarchs 44-43, which
Olivier considered a moral victory.
“That was a game where I was pleased with the team even
though we didn’t win,” she said. “We did a lot of
good things. We out-rebounded them, which is something we
haven’t done well this year.”
The Ohio State game was close for a half, as the Bruins were
down by six midway through the second half, but they fell victim to
an 11-0 run by the Buckeyes which put the game out of reach.
UCLA followed the road trip with two games at Pauley Pavilion,
but with similar results, as the Bruins lost to Pepperdine 78-56
and to No. 4 Georgia 89-55.
The game against Pepperdine brought out the best and worst of
the team. The first half of the game was all UCLA, as they played
tough defense leading 38-32 at the half.
But the Waves came out of the locker room with a 13-2 run to
lead the rest of the way. The Pepperdine defense smothered the
Bruins and held Greco, who leads the Pac-10 in scoring with 18.7
ppg (as of Dec. 30) for the entire second half.
“Pepperdine looked real good defensively,” Olivier
said. “They keyed on Natalie (Nakase), and they made her go
where they wanted her to go and took us out of our
offense.”
Against the fourth-ranked Georgia Bulldogs, the Bruins had their
most lopsided defeat of the year behind the double strength of
senior twins Coco and Kelly Miller, who combined for 47 points and
19 rebounds.
UCLA was led by Greco, who scored 22 points, and Kristee Porter
who grabbed eight rebounds.
The Bruins refused to quit even though they were clearly
outperformed by the Bulldogs. They kept the crowd of 1,745 at
Pauley cheering until the final buzzer, fighting for loose balls
and giving a maximum effort even though the game was clearly out of
reach.
The Pac-10 season began last Thursday at Washington, where the
Bruins lost to the Huskies (7-3, 1-0) 73-54. The Huskies ended the
first half with a 13-0 run, giving them a 35-18 advantage at the
half. The Bruins never got closer than 16 for the rest of the
game.
UCLA was led by Greco, who scored 19 points, all in the second
half.
At Washington State on Saturday, the Bruins had to face the
Cougars (7-5, 2-0) without Greco, who was out with the flu. UCLA
was leading 27-23 with 2:48 remaining in the first half, but the
Bruins closed the half surrendering a 11-0 run to the Cougars. They
entered the locker room trailing 34-27.
The Bruins forced WSU into a season-high 34 turnovers, but they
only shot 19.5 percent from the field in the second half.
The Bruins are keeping their heads up as they begin their winter
quarter and plunge deep into their Pac-10 season.
“We’re practicing everyday and improving, and I
definitely think we can surprise some teams,” Greco said.
“It’s great that the fans have been so supportive.
We’re staying positive.”
The Bruins continue their season this Sunday at Pauley Pavilion
when the hoopsters duel USC at 1 p.m.