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Friday, January 31, 1997

W. HOOPS:

Players hope to prove ability is better than 8-8 record suggestsBy A. CinQue Carter

Daily Bruin Contributor

The UCLA women's basketball team will try to defend the homecourt tonight in an all-important conference game.

The Oregon Ducks (12-4, 5-2 Pac-10) come into the contest in third place with a one-game cushion over Arizona and Washington.

Though UCLA (8-8, 2-5) pulled out a 19-point victory at home last year, the Ducks have won six of the last seven in the series.

However, this is a Bruin team with seven new players including four new starters.

"We have something to prove," freshman Janae Hubbard said. "We're better than our record shows and we don't plan on letting anyone get an advantage over us."

A player who likes to gain an advantage over all her opponents is forward Arianne Boyer. Boyer averages 14.2 points and 9.1 boards (fifth in the Pac-10) a game for the Ducks.

"Boyer works hard," UCLA head coach Kathy Olivier said. "She's strong and aggressive and never stops."

Another team that would like to get the upper hand on the sliding Bruins is sixth place Oregon State (9-7, 3-4), who comes to Pauley Sunday afternoon.

The Beavers come to Los Angeles riding a two-game win streak after a sweep of the Arizona schools. Center Tina Lelas was named co-player of the week after averaging 15 points and 16.5 boards in that series.

Carly Funicello will draw Lelas' card with Janae Hubbard coming off the bench to help. Also in the frontcourt will be Kris Walsh and Monica Watts, averaging 27 points and 13 rebounds between the two of them. Maylana Martin and Takiyah Jackson will start off guarding them.

"We really need to get Carly, Janae, and Takiyah into the picture early," Olivier said. "We also need to get Maylana back. Teams have been focusing all their efforts on her so she hasn't had a chance to breathe."

Olivier feels that in addition to her big people getting into these games, she needs her backcourt to continue to produce.

"The whole team played well against 'SC and if we have that kind of effort every game, we should come out on top," Olivier said.

AARON TOUT

Melanie Pearson

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