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Olivier pleased with balance

All of w. hoops' 10

players scored

against UC Irvine

By Hye Kwon

The UCLA women's basketball team hammered UC Irvine for the fifth consecutive time Monday and it accomplished the victory in grand fashion. Kisa Hughes played the game of her life in what was the first victory of the year for the Bruins (1-1 overall).

In the five meetings between the two schools over the last 20 years, the Bruins have outscored the Anteaters, 440-278. Going back to the 1974-75 season, UCLA's 106-13 win over Irvine still stands as the Bruins' most lopsided win.

Monday night's contest, however, ended up to be too close for comfort. After building a 28-point lead in the first half, a combination of sloppy play on the Bruins' part and tremendous hustle on the Anteaters' part made it as close as 13 points with 10 minutes left on the clock. Despite the fact that UCLA was leading the entire second half, it seemed as if they were playing not to lose instead of playing to win.

"I think we have the tendency to make strides and then fade back," UCLA head coach Kathy Olivier said. "We do some good things and then fade back. That's the lack of experience more than anything else."

If receiving solid contributions from a lot of players provides the solution to the lack of experience, the Bruins are headed in the right direction as evidenced by Monday's contest against UC Irvine.

All 10 of the players on the roster put in solid contributions, and that included freshmen Jamie Oenning and Aisha Veasley.

Initially, Oenning had trouble handling the full court press in the first half, committing a number of turnovers, but she settled down nicely to contribute four points and three assists.

Although Oenning is only months removed from playing at Woodbridge High School in Irvine, she will be a critical player down the road for the Bruins because she is the only true back-up point guard on the team.

"I think that we will definitely have different people leading the way each game," Olivier said. "I don't think we'll have one player dominating all year."

If UCLA wants to upset other Pac-10 teams this season, balanced scoring might be their ticket. Other teams cannot key on one or two players because anyone could have a career-high game on any given night.

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