A loss can be a learning experience for a team.
But for the UCLA’s women’s basketball team, that one loss has been repeating itself too often.
What once was an optimistic bunch has quickly turned into one with a look of disappointment and disgust. Thursday night’s loss to Oregon, 61-55, just added to what slowly is becoming a dismal season.
“It’s getting old,” sophomore guard Lisa Willis said. “Losing is getting old. Nobody has time to lose.”
Thus far in the season, the Bruins only have been able to put together one two-game winning streak.
“At this point I’m just disappointed. We were very capable of winning this game. We came out tonight like a very different team,” sophomore guard Nikki Blue said. “We weren’t on the same page. We weren’t playing hard. We just took it like another game. We’re not playing with much heart.”
“More now than ever, it’s really coming down to crunch time,” Blue added. “We’re not even trying to think of tournament; we’re thinking about representing UCLA in a good way.”
The Bruins were anything but themselves in the first half as they continued to be stagnant on offense. UCLA put only 18 on the board in the first 20 minutes of play, 12 below its normal first-half average.
“We all went in the locker room the way we came out and played in the first half – quiet, dull, lame, nonchalant. And that’s a problem,” said Willis, who finished with 20 points. “When we continue to lose and we know we’re good, we should have a whole lot to talk about. It should never be that quiet.”
As a look of gloominess came over the faces of the Bruins as they entered the second half, however, they made a run, cutting the Ducks’ lead down to four, 29-25. But that was as close as they would get.
“(With) the type of defense we’re playing, you have to be very active and very aggressive,” coach Kathy Olivier said. “We didn’t bring it in Pauley, and normally in Pauley we take pride in protecting our home court. And this time it was a bit of a letdown.”
In the second half, UCLA mounted a comeback catapulted by UCLA’s trapping full-court defense, which somehow was lost in the first half.
Oregon’s sophomore guard Chelsea Wagner, however, then connected on four of her game-high five three-pointers, giving Oregon its biggest lead of 16 with 13:11 to play. Wagner finished with a team-high 17 points.
Blue saw limited play in the game’s waning minutes as the Bruins tried to cut into Oregon’s lead.
The loss has brought many questions concerning Olivier’s substitution methods.
“When me, Nikki, and Noelle (Quinn) are in the game at the same time, it’s definitely hard to guard us,” Willis said. “When the subs come in, I don’t care who she puts in, just whoever she puts in, they have to get it done.”
With only eight games remaining in the regular season, the Bruins see themselves heading in only one direction.
South.
“I’ve always felt it was going to be a work in progress, but I always knew we had talent,” Olivier said. “In the years past, we didn’t have as much talent, but we had a lot of heart. And this team just needs to find its heart and play like Bruins.”