W. hoops hopes to send Huskies howling

W. hoops hopes to send Huskies howling

Bruins need win over Washington to sink teeth into piece of
third place

By Emmanuelle Ejercito

Daily Bruin Staff

Thanks to a three-game winning streak, coupled with upheavals in
the Pacific 10 standings, the UCLA women’s basketball team is
poised to place third in the conference – if it can win on the
road.

But winning on the road has been tough for the Bruins.

As UCLA visits the University of Washington Thursday night, it
will have won only one conference road game this season. But after
sweeping the Oregon schools and defeating USC for the first time in
five years, the Bruins have a newfound determination and it
couldn’t have come at a better time.

Helped by a surprising sweep of the Washington schools by
Arizona State, there is only one game separating third from fifth.
Currently in third, Arizona still has to face undefeated No. 3
Stanford, while fourth-place Oregon has one last game left, against
No. 21 Oregon State. Should UCLA (13-12 overall, 8-8 Pac-10) win
its last two games and there are no upsets in the Arizona and
Oregon games, the Bruins will have at least a share of third.

"Well, I think that the road is a big deal, but I think that our
team knows what we need to do," UCLA head coach Kathy Olivier said.
"They feel so good about themselves and they have so much
confidence. We’re at a really good stage right now, hopefully we
can maintain it and continue to win."

The Bruins first played Washington (14-13, 8-8) two months ago.
UCLA built a 14-point lead midway through the first half. But Husky
freshman Jamie Redd led Washington on an 11-0 run that cut the lead
to four going into halftime. The Huskies stepped up their defense,
forcing the Bruins to shoot only 36 percent in the second half.
Washington went on to win, 78-66.

"The first time we played them I felt like we should have beat
them and we didn’t," Olivier said. "I think our team is playing
very well right now … the only thing we need to do is prove that
we can win on the road. So we’re going to go up there and challenge
them."

The Bruins should have the advantage on the inside game. The
tallest starter for Washington is 6-feet-1-inch, while UCLA starts
Zrinka Kristich and Kisa Hughes, who stand at 6 feet 5 inches and 6
feet 4 inches, respectively.

The bench will also be helping the Bruins. Sophomore Aisha
Veasley garnered her first career double-double against Oregon last
Saturday, tallying 10 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.
Meanwhile, senior Ricarda Kuypers has also been effective off the
bench.

While the Bruins have won the last three, last year’s Pac-10
runner-up Washington has dropped the last three.

"I think the game’s going to be very tough, it means a lot to
the Bruins," Washington head coach Chris Gobrecht said. "We are in
a different perspective because, with us, we are thinking, ‘Oh man,
we’re having a horrible year,’ while UCLA is thinking, ‘Wow, this
is great.’ So it’ll be interesting if that has any affect on (the
game)."

SCOTT O/Daily Bruin

With first double-double under belt, Aisha Veasley set to help
Bruins beat Huskies.

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