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Thursday, December 5, 1996

W. BASKETBALL:

Team to test young line-up with a five-game stretchBy A. CinQue Carter

Daily Bruin Contributor

And the adversity continues for the UCLA women's basketball team.

The Bruins (1-1), having already begun the year without their starting backcourt from last season, suffered another blow Wednesday morning.

Melanie Pearson, the Bruins' starting point guard, has developed mononucleosis and will be out indefinitely.

So with Erica Gomez out for the season with torn ligaments, and Nickey Hilbert not returning for her senior season, head coach Kathy Olivier will be forced to go deeper into her bench. For a team that found its niche last year when Gomez was set as Hilbert's counterpart at guard, this is a little unsettling.

"It's tough for us when uncontrollable events occur," Olivier said. "We won't be down about it; we'll get through it. What this does create, though, is an opportunity for everyone to step up and see what we can do."

What the Bruins will take into this stretch of five more non-conference games is more game experience in the starting lineup. No longer will four of Pearson's class ­ freshmen ­ be starting while she is out.

Junior Tawana Grimes, the Bruins' only returning starter will move over to point guard, while junior Aisha Veasley, last season's most productive reserve, will move from reserve forward to unfamiliar territory at starting shooting guard. "I really like Aisha coming off the bench because she provides that spark for us," Olivier said. "But we'll see how things work out."

While the backcourt has suffered blow after blow, UCLA's front court will remain the same with freshmen Takiyah Jackson, Maylana Martin, and Carly Funicello continuing to start.

* * *

The first test for the young and embattled Bruins and their newest lineup will come at 5:15 p.m. tonight against Loyola Marymount at Gersten Pavilion. The Lions (0-5) last faced UCLA in 1993, with the Bruins walking away with an 81-47 victory at Pauley Pavilion.

Though the Lions feel overmatched, they still plan to take everything in stride and stick to their game plan of preparing for West Coast Conference play by playing against the best competition possible.

"The whole purpose (of scheduling UCLA) is to prepare for our conference," LMU head coach Julie Wilhoit said. "We need to pick ourselves up mentally. There are a number of items that we have to get better at. Whether we win or lose, if we take care of those issues, then we are on the right track. (So) we must execute on offense and defense."

As the Lions are extremely disadvantaged in height, so is Baylor. The Bruins face the Lady Bears on Saturday, at Pauley following the men's game versus Kansas. UCLA hopes their series record against the Bears will change to 2-1. In the previous two meetings, the home team has been the victor. Last season UCLA fell just short, losing 74-68 at Baylor. While Baylor lacks size, it compensates with experience. All five starters return from last season looking to repeat last year's victory at the Bruins' expense.

"The next few games are going to have to be a total team effort," Olivier said. "I think we're going to go on a roll with Loyola on the road, and Baylor at home is good because we lost last year. There's always that revenge factor."

Following finals week, the Bruins will, in a six-day span, face St. Mary's at home, and George Washington and Seton Hall on the road. Not only were GW and SHU champions of their respective conferences last year, but the three schools compiled a combined 59-30 record last year, while LMU and Baylor combined for 23 wins and 32 losses.

While these teams know how to win, UCLA did manage to record a victory in their only meeting with head coach Terri Rubenstein's SMC Gaels. The women's teams from Westwood have never faced head coach Joe McKeown's GW Colonials or head coach Phyllis Mangina's SHU Pirates.

"That is a very important stretch for us," Bruin associate coach Willette White said. "We'll be concentrating only on basketball at that point. We go to D.C. (and New Jersey) and play two very good teams. After that we have a top-15 team in Western Kentucky (in the Pac-10 Challenge at USC). We need these games to gain some momentum going into conference play."

"We should go beat both of them (GW and SHU)," Olivier said.

As Western Kentucky, Seton Hall, George Washington and St. Mary's all have size, and feel they can compete with UCLA in the post, New Orleans coach Joey Favaloro concedes that his Privateers (3-1) are overmatched inside.

"They're (UCLA) going to go inside," Favaloro said. "We have to play a full court game because the half court game will kill us. We have to stretch it the full length of the court. What we will offer is 40 minutes of hustle; we're going to press for 40 minutes and shoot every open shot. That's the only way."

This series is tied at one, with each team winning on the road. Favaloro, in his 17th season as head coach, remembers very well when his team "came in there and beat UCLA in Pauley years ago."

Favaloro's team won that game 75-73 in the 1984-85 season. It just so happens that this game is not at UCLA or Baylor, so the tie will be broken on neutral ground.

As the Bruins will use this stretch to prepare them for Pac-10 play, the Lady Hilltoppers (2-1) of Western Kentucky are using their West Coast trip, and their winter break overall to prep themselves for Sun Belt Conference play. "The Pac-10 Challenge includes two quality ball programs (UCLA and USC)," head coach Paul Sanderford said. "We face those two and then we immediately come home and play Iowa. This will definitely get us ready for conference. We're (also) trying to play the best competition we can to get us ready for March (the NCAA Tournament)."

While Sanderford recognizes the Bruins are "talented and had a great recruiting class," he also points out that they need this game as much as his team to prepare them for their season.

"We're a top-20 team," Sanderford said. "That's got to help UCLA because they have to go to (top-ranked) Stanford; they have to go to Oregon. Those are always challenges. When you face quality opponents it just makes you better."

As far as conference play goes, the Bruins have had all off-season to ponder what might have been. With an 8-8 conference record last year, UCLA traveled to the Washington schools with a chance to finish third in the Pac-10. They were on a three-game win streak and were gaining momentum.

The first stop on the trip was at UW in Seattle. What they experienced there was a 70-48 thumping by the Huskies. In that contest, the Bruins shot 33.9 percent from the field, 42.9 percent from the line, and had 33 turnovers against only six assists.

The next stop was Pullman. Fighting for .500, holding an 8-9 Pac-10 mark, the Bruins looked to repeat a victory earlier in the season over the Cougars. With starters Hilbert and senior forward Zrinka Kristich held out of the game, the Bruins fought hard but fell seven points short at 88-81.

Free throw percentage: 46.7 percent. Missed free throws: eight. Had they made their free throws they would have won the game. So the team that fought so hard for the opportunity to finish third in conference play finished tied for sixth.

With conference play opening on Jan. 2 in Pullman, UCLA looks to turn the tables on Washington State, in which they split last year's games.

After that they will go across the state, and face the Huskies in Seattle on Jan. 4 to try to avenge a season sweep last year.

* * *

While Olivier enters her fourth season at the helm of the Bruin program, every non-conference foe other than LMU has had the same coach for at least seven years, and eight of those nine have been on the job at least 10 years. The Bruins, under Olivier's tutelage, have compiled a 6-9 record over the winter break for the last three seasons.

AARON TAO

Melanie Pearson is out of the line-up indefinitely with mononucleosis.

While the backcourt has suffered blow after blow, UCLA's front court will remain the same ...