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  KEITH ENRIQUEZ/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Malika Leatham has improved her ability to control the boards.

By Adam Titcher

Daily Bruin Contributor

As a knee jabs into her stomach, her thigh is stepped on. She hits the ground and bangs her head on the floor. She is continually stepped on afterward, but it does not faze her at all.

UCLA women’s basketball center Malika Leatham gets back up and runs down to the other side of the court to play offense. This charge is just one of many she takes during a game.

“If you can take one, you can take another,” she said. “I do not do it for glory, because it is just something I do to play defense.”

After transferring from Blinn College in Texas, Leatham has worked hard to assume a leadership position. As UCLA’s top rebounder and second-leading scorer, she has come into her own as a premier basketball player. While her entire game is more solid than ever, her defensive performance still stands out.

Leatham runs down the court to cheers from the bench. No one turns away when she hits the ground, because taking charges is expected of her by everyone.

“It pumps us up because she invites them,” senior center Shalada Allen said. “She is sacrificing her body for the team.”

The players and coaches do not enjoy each of Leatham’s falls, but they take pride in them because she takes charges so well. Last year she took more charges than the whole team combined leading to her 2000-01 “Charge Queen Award” she received from her teammates following the season.

While this rough style is not normal for women’s basketball, it is for Leatham.

Leatham, along with the rest of the team, completed an intensive summer conditioning program to help improve all aspects of their game. One thing Leatham did was build her upper body strength.

“Conditioning was pretty good at my JC, but weightlifting here at UCLA is more defined,” she said. “Yet I have just always been aggressive.”

With her added strength and intense personality, Leatham controls many of her opponents. She can rebound and score a lot more because she receives many calls from the referees.

She admits that the truth behind taking a charge is a secret, but she knows it is easy once the basics are mastered.

First of all, a player needs to know how to successfully work in a “help defense” zone. She must have her shoulders straight and her feet planted firmly. And she cannot take a charge from the hips, but only the center of her body. Otherwise it is a blocking foul.

Leatham says the secret to taking a charge is getting touched, but not absorbing all of the hit. A player will get hurt if she takes all the hit, but about 10 percent is Leatham’s suggestion.

It seems simple, but it is not because the trick is how to fall without looking like an actor. Leatham is not an actor. She has mastered taking hits. With this mastery, as a senior, she become a role model for her team.

Earlier in the season, while reviewing video footage in preparation for a matchup against BYU, Leatham sat around the coaching staff with freshmen Paula “Sissy” Pickett and Krystle Johnson. After seeing Leatham take a charge in the previous game against Ohio State, Johnson asked Leatham if she would teach her how to take her own charges.

“I thought it was cute, but as a senior, it feels good to know that I can contribute the way I do,” Leatham said, laughing. “We are like a family, so being able to contribute is great for all of us.”

On the court, players are not trying to hit the floor, but they are certainly giving Leatham the respect she deserves. She was voted captain of her team by her teammates this year, signifying the payoff of all of her hard work.

“Taking a charge is a momentum swing for the team, and she motivates her teammates,” head coach Kathy Olivier said. “She has been a great leader who leads by example.”

As a leader, Leatham wants to help her team as much as she can this season. She admits that her defensive production depends only on what her opposition can give her, but her aggressive attitude will give the fans a show. In pursuit of victories her teammates know falling is inevitable.

“She is at the right spot at the right time, but all the time,” sophomore forward Jamila Veasley said.