Go-to scorers Jasmin Dixon and Markel Walker accustomed to pressure on women’s team
Sophomore forward Jasmine Dixon and the Bruins head to Palo Alto to face second-ranked Stanford Thursday in hopes of continuing their four-game winning streak. Dixon has emerged as a go-to player for the Bruins this season.
By Brantley Watson
Feb. 2, 2010 10:04 p.m.
“When the game is on the line, the ball goes to Jack!”
These emphatic words belonged to UCLA women’s basketball coach Nikki Caldwell on Tuesday afternoon, mid-practice, addressing each and every one of her 13 players.
Nevermind the laugh that the players and coaches had directly after Caldwell’s statement due to her mangling of Jasmine Dixon’s nickname (“Jas”).
Everyone got the point.
And on the next three scrimmage runs, freshman point guard Mariah Williams made sure the ball found its way to the sophomore Dixon down on the block.
Once Dixon and her group stepped off the floor and a new group of five Bruins stepped out, Caldwell once again addressed the team.
“I’m not going to tell you who the ball goes to in this group, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out.”
Everyone knew whom coach was referring to: freshman forward Markel Walker.
As was obvious to anyone in attendance, Caldwell was looking to send a message to her team, especially with today’s practice being one of the last before a crucial weekend road trip beginning Thursday when the Bruins travel to take on No. 2 Stanford. But according to Caldwell, regardless of who the Bruins are set to face, her team needs to realize exactly who has earned the role of breadwinner so far.
“I think they’ve got to understand that we do have go-to players on our team,” Caldwell said after Tuesday’s practice. “And respectively, they have earned that right for the offense to flow through them. Not that the other young ladies haven’t, but they have obviously been consistent for us in a lot of different games.”
Judging by the looks on the Bruins’ faces, there was no disagreement.
Dixon and Walker have certainly served as UCLA’s most consistent players so far on the season. Dixon leads the Bruins in scoring, notching nearly 15 points per contest, with Walker in second scoring 11 points per game. On the flipside, Walker leads the Bruins in rebounding with more than eight per game, and Dixon comes in second with more than seven boards per game.
And according to both Dixon and Walker, being the lead woman on the team is nothing new to them.
“It makes me feel no differently than before,” Dixon said. “I’m here to just help my teammates in every way I can. Growing up from Boys and Girls Club, all the way to Long Beach Poly, I was always that go-to player. It’s no stranger to me.”
Walker, when asked if she was used to the pressure of being the go-to girl on her team, simply replied with an emphatic, “Yeah.”
But in Caldwell’s eyes, seeing how her two young Bruins have matured already during the season, and having followed both of them in high school, the pressure of being the designated go-to’s is nonexistent.
“These two accept it,” Caldwell said. “They know what it means to carry a team. They’ve done it before they came here, and I just want to make sure that we’re clear on their efficiency. When it’s late game and we need a basket, we want to go for a high-percentage shot for the team.”
On the season, Dixon is shooting an impressive 56 percent from the field in 13 games. Walker is shooting almost 50 percent from the field in 20 games. And according to Caldwell, the next step for Dixon will hopefully be national recognition.
“I think Jasmine is definitely one of the top players in our league and eventually, hopefully we’ll have her as one of the top players in the country,” Caldwell said. “She’s a force to be reckoned with inside.
“We’re excited that she’s with us. I definitely wouldn’t want to be scouting her and figuring out how to guard her.”
