WOMEN’S BASKETBALL Tonight 7 p.m. Corvallis, OR
Radio 850 AM vs.
By Scott Schultz
Daily Bruin Contributor
The sudden surge by the women’s basketball team has raised
eyebrows in the Pac-10, as the Bruins (3-13, 2-3 Pac-10) have won
two out of their last three games and actually received two votes
in the ESPN/USA Today national poll despite a poor record.
The Bruin team, which began the season with 12 players who were
mostly new to Division I basketball, has transformed into perhaps
the most energetic and athletic team in the Pac-10.
“We’re finally finding our comfortable offense and
defense,” UCLA sophomore point guard Natalie Nakase said.
“We’re more aware of each other’s strengths and
tendencies on the court.”
They have the leading scorer in the Pac-10 in junior guard
Michelle Greco. She is averaging 19.9 points per game and 23.3
points per game in conference play despite the fact that it is no
secret that she is the Bruins’ No. 1 option on offense.
“We feel like we’re playing really well right
now,” Greco said. “We’re executing things
offensively and defensively. We’ve gotten much
better.”
The Bruins are also improving at rebounding, a source of
frustration for the team during the non-conference schedule.
Forward Kristee Porter, who joined the team after the volleyball
season ended and has not played in enough games yet to be counted
in official Pac-10 statistics, is averaging a conference-best 8.6
rebounds per game. She is improving her board skills at an
astonishing pace. Porter averaged 15 boards against the Arizona
schools last weekend.
“With Kristee down low, we feel like we can shoot as many
times as we want, and she will get the rebound,” Greco said.
“Before we were only getting one or two shots per trip down
court, and now with the way she’s playing, along with the
rest of the team, we’re getting three or four per
trip.”
The Bruins are leading the Pac-10 in steals at 11.0 per game,
and they have people on the sideline bench stomping their feet and
banging the floor for the full 40 minutes of each game.
Tonight, on their swing through the Northwest, the Bruins embark
on their most serious challenge since their surge began, starting
with a visit to Gill Coliseum to challenge the Oregon State Beavers
(10-5, 2-3.)
“Oregon State is a much improved team,” UCLA head
coach Kathy Olivier said. “They’re a team that is more
patient on their defense than Arizona or USC.”
The Beavers have a strong perimeter game that is led by junior
guard Felicia Ragland, who at 17.5 ppg is the second leading scorer
in the Pac-10 behind Greco.
OSU is a defense-focused team that likes to employ zone defenses
and slow the pace of the game, a technique which allowed them to
begin the season with an impressive 8-2 record.
However, their defense has been subject to lapses during their
Pac-10 schedule, as they have allowed their opponents to hit more
than 50 percent of their shots from the field, resulting in their
conference opponents averaging 71.1 points per game, as compared to
their nonconference opponents, who averaged only 53.3 ppg against
the Beaver defense.
“This will be a good test for us as much as we feel
we’ve gotten better,” Olivier said. “We’re
on the road where we haven’t won this year, so we’ll
find out how much better we’ve gotten.”