WOMEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Sunday 1 p.m. Pauley
Pavilion TV: Fox Sports Net Radio: 850 AM
By Scott Schultz
Daily Bruin Contributor
USC is coming to Pauley Pavilion this Sunday smelling blood and
looking for the kill, but this battle for Los Angeles may be just
the opportunity the Bruins need to turn their season around.
“It’s definitely a big rivalry. We have to win
it,” said redshirt sophomore point guard Natalie Nakase,
whose older sister currently attends USC.
Neither team has won a conference game this season, and both
teams are in the middle of significant losing streaks. The women of
Troy have lost five straight games and the Bruins have lost their
last six.
“Not only do we have urgency because USC-UCLA is an
intense rivalry, we both need a win,” USC head coach Chris
Gobrecht said. “So I expect we’ll see a lot of scraping
and clawing on the floor.”
There should be some intense defense on the court anyway, as
both teams like to pressure the ball and force turnovers. UCLA
(1-12 overall, 0-2 Pac-10) leads the conference in steals per game,
averaging 11.38. USC is second in the conference, averaging
10.7.
“They like to overplay defensively so we just have to make
sure to take care of the ball because they’re good at forcing
turnovers. So we focused on that,” UCLA head coach Kathy
Olivier said. “Defensively, we’re going to mix it up
and make them think a little.”
UCLA junior guard Michelle Greco will be returning to play
tonight after sitting out last Saturday’s 74-52 defeat at
Washington State with stomach flu. She’s looking forward to
defending home court against Troy.
“If we win this game, it erases our problems that
we’ve had so far. It changes our perspective,” Greco
said. “We’ve dominated them the last couple of years,
and I’m sure they want to get us this year. “
USC (5-6, 0-2) won the last matchup between the two teams, 73-69
at the Sports Arena last February, but prior to that the Bruins won
five straight against the women of Troy, including a 94-53 thumping
two Januarys ago at Pauley.
Freshman Whitney Jones has been inserted into the starting
lineup for the Bruins in place of sophomore Jalina Bradley, as
Olivier continues to search for a winning combination during this
difficult season.
“Whitney came off the bench against Washington and she was
very productive, so we’re just to trying to get some things
going by making a few changes,” Olivier said.
The women of Troy have nine returning letter-winners, but they
are led by freshmen Aisha Hoffman, who is averaging 13.7 points per
game, and Ebony Hoffman, who is averaging 10.3 ppg and 7.6 rebounds
per game.
Greco thinks that USC may be a little over-confident coming in,
and that may play to the Bruins advantage.
“When they see our record, they’re probably going to
come in here and kill us, but I think we’ll be ready for
them,” she said.
Greco, who leads the Pac-10 in scoring (18.8 ppg) and free-throw
percentage (.912), has made 20 straight free throws. The current
record is 24, held by Denisea Curry from 1978-80.
Olivier acknowledged the rivalry between the two teams but
insists that executing their game plan and playing sound basketball
should allow the Bruins to overcome Troy.
“Any time anyone from UCLA plays against USC,
they’re going to want to win, and I think ‘SC probably
feels the same way,” Oliver said. “Any time you play
against a crosstown rival anything can happen. Hopefully we can
take care of the ball, rebound, make our free throws and
we’ll come out ahead.”