Smith, Hughes ready to battle down in the paint

Published: Thursday, February 9, 1995

Starring centers

spotlighted as

Bruins face UW

By Hye Kwon

As the UCLA women's basketball team enters the second half of the Pacific-10 conference play, one of the things that the Bruins will be taking with them is frustration.

The Bruins (7-11 overall, 2-7 in Pac-10) have lost their last four games and six out of their last seven games. If UCLA is to put a stop to their losing streak against Washington on Friday, they must get by a formidable Huskie team that is only a game behind Stanford in the race for the Pac-10 title.

The Huskies (17-5, 7-2) are led by their star center Rhonda Smith. Smith is sixth in the conference with 17.2 points per game and third with 8.4 rebounds per game. The two-time All-Pac-10 selection is leading Washington in scoring and rebounding for the third consecutive season. In addition, Smith is on pace to break the Washington all-time scoring record of 1,745 points.

Those personal numbers are impressive, but Smith understands that she must provide the senior leadership in order for her team to achieve success.

"I know that my role is pretty much of a leader right now," Smith said. "I think my younger teammates expect me to lead them."

Washington head coach Chris Gobrecht believes that those leadership qualities are essential.

"She's an integral part of our success," Gobrecht said. "She's a player who has learned to adjust this year to getting a great deal of attention from her opponents, something that wasn't happening to her before."

UCLA head coach Kathy Olivier is aware of Smith's prowess. When the Bruins traveled to Seattle last month, Smith racked up 19 points and 12 rebounds, nine of which were on the offensive end.

"Rhonda killed us last time," Olivier said. "We knew that she was a good player and we knew that she was going to get her points and her rebounds. But what really hurt us was that she went to the offensive boards."

The key to Friday's game will be at the center position. In January when the two teams first met, Smith and UCLA's Kisa Hughes were engaged in a physical duel.

"Up in Seattle, the matchup was really physical," Olivier said. "Kisa ended up having a good statistical game. But what happened was that she was doing fine for about a couple minutes then went for another five minutes when you didn't even know Kisa was on the court because Rhonda was so physical on her."

In that game, Hughes finished with 21 points and nine rebounds and caught the eyes of Gobrecht. After a month of observation, Gobrecht now acknowledges that Hughes is one of the premier centers in the conference.

"We didn't realize in the last game what she is capable of doing with her size," Gobrecht said.

Smith, who will be matched up against Hughes, is also aware of the importance of stopping Hughes.

"I think defense is going to be really important," Smith said. "But I'm not going to try to keep her scoreless. I think that's very unrealistic."

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One reason the Huskies are so tough is that they are not a one-woman team. In the January game against the Bruins, the Huskies got 12 points and 10 assists from point guard Katia Foucade. Freshman Gena Pelz also contributed with 10 points and seven rebounds.

Reserve guard Laura Savasta, however, outshined all her teammates during that game. She led the Huskies with 20 points and three steals in limited minutes.

"Savasta was just everywhere," Olivier said. "She came in off the bench and did everything. We have to be aware of where she is on the court."