Bruins hope to pull together, dam up Beavers

Published: Thursday, February 27, 1997

Thursday, February 27, 1997

W. HOOPS:

UCLA stands to gain more confidence than conference standingBy Anthony Carter

Daily Bruin Contributor

The UCLA women's basketball team will face Oregon State this evening at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis.

The Bruins, having played only one game in the last 11 days, will try to get motivated for the second and final meeting of the season between these two teams.

Since there aren't any serious conference standing implications, the Bruins will try to use this contest as a stepping stone for ending the season on a good note. After starting off the season 7-3, UCLA has now fallen to 11-12 (5-9 Pac-10).

"This game gives us another opportunity to improve," junior Jamie Oenning said. "In fact these last four games give us opportunities to work on the little things."

Those little things which include "execution, ball handling and intense defense" become big things when they are missing.

UCLA's starters alone have averaged 18.42 turnovers and the team as a whole has lacked consistency on defense. These problems don't bode well for a team of four juniors and eight underclassmen that has never won a game in the state of Oregon.

"More important than focusing on our opponent," added Oenning, "is focusing on ourselves. Every game is important."

Having been tied for sixth place in the conference with Oregon State (11-13, 5-10) for most of the season, the Bruins now stand alone in sixth as OSU was swept at the Arizona schools.

Bruin standouts include juniors Tawana Grimes and Aisha Veasley and freshmen Melanie Pearson and Maylana Martin. Freshmen Carly Funicello, Takiyah Jackson, Janae Hubbard and Marie Philman have occasionally come up with big games.

All of these guns will need to step up for the Bruins in order to get back on the winning track against an Oregon State team that is 7-3 at home this season, winning an astounding 26 of their last 30 at Gill.

The Beaver attack is led by senior Tina Lelas, who was named Pac-10 Player of the Week in the first week of February. Lelas is averaging 15.6 points (eighth in the conference) and 9.7 rebounds (third in the conference) per contest.

So it comes down to sixth place versus seventh place for respect and pride. Whoever wants this game more and commits the least errors should prevail.

"I would love to go up there and sweep these two games," Olivier said. "It would be great for the morale of this team."

JUSTIN WARREN/Daily Bruin

Freshman Takiyah Jackson and her Bruin teammates hope to keep the intensity strong for the remaining four regular season games.

Whoever wants this game more and commits the least errors should prevail.