Junior guard Natalie Nakase will need
all of her tenacity to the defeat the 2001 Pac-10 champions.
By Jackie Abellada
Daily Bruin Contributor
This season has been anything but pleasant for the UCLA
women’s basketball squad.
One by one, its players are dropping like flies from its lineup
““ one from past injuries, another to the pros, and now, to a
one-game suspension.
The way things are going, they are going to have to recruit
players off Bruin Walk just to make sure they have enough people to
even play a game.
With all the shuffling that is going on, it comes as no surprise
that the Bruins (5-10, 2-5 Pac-10) have not been able to find a
consistent rhythm in their games. Giving up early leads has become
all too familiar for these Bruins.
But these players keep on fighting. In the second half, they
have managed to cut double-digit margins to pull within reasonable
reach of their opponents. Now, all they need to do is apply their
usual late surges to the entire 40 minutes of the game.
“We just have to find a way to play aggressive early in
the game and not get down by so many points,” head coach
Kathy Olivier said.
And, that is exactly what they need to do against Arizona State
(14-4, 5-2) tonight at home in order to post a “W” on
their side of the stat sheet.
Winners of 12 of their past 14 outings, the No. 23 Sun Devils
are definitely going to be a difficult test for the Bruins.
According to Olivier, her team’s upcoming opponent is very
similar to USC ““ a team to whom they lost this past Sunday by
the score of 67-57. Both have tremendous post-up players who can
dominate the paint both offensively and defensively ““ Ebony
Hoffman of USC and Melody Johnson of ASU.
Hoffman was a major factor in UCLA’s inability to
establish an inside presence in this past Sunday’s match-up.
As a result, the Bruins frequently found themselves lingering in
the perimeter and having to force their shots as the shot clock
wound down.
Melody Johnson, who is averaging 11.7 points and 6.2 rebounds
per game, is going to be a comparable challenge.
“Johnson has hurt us before in the past,” Olivier
said. “She has good size so we’re going to make sure we
play our bigger post players ““ Sissy (Pickett) or Krystle
(Johnson).”
Stopping the inside game will not be the only roadblock for the
Bruins.
Amanda Levens, the starting guard for the 2001 Pac-10 Champions,
appears to be having the season of her life, scoring 20.2 points
per game ““ best in the Pac-10 and 21st in the nation.
Bruin guard Natalie Nakase will definitely have her hands full
trying to guard her 5-foot-9 counterpart.
“(The) majority of her points come from the line, so I
know she likes to drive a lot,” Nakase said. “I’m
going to have to play off of her and just try to get in front of
her.”
But that is not to say that Nakase will be the only one watching
her opponent sink baskets one after another. The 5-foot-2 Bruin
guard has become a huge offensive threat as of late. In the last
two games, she has led her team in scoring, averaging 22.5 points
per outing.
Despite all that has happened ““ a constantly rotating
line-up, winning only two games in the past 11, and going winless
at home in Pac-10 play ““ the Bruins still somehow manage to
gather themselves and find enough confidence to go on and play the
next game.
“We’re going to need other players to come in, step
up, and, hopefully, take advantage of the situation,” junior
guard Jalina Bradley said. “We know we can definitely come
out and do some good things and, hopefully, that’ll come out
toward the ends and we can get a victory.”