Women’s basketball season winding down for Nyingifa
After six years at UCLA, senior forward Atonye Nyingifa will play in her final regular season games for the Bruins this weekend. (Miriam Bribiesca/Daily Bruin)
By Derrek Li
Feb. 28, 2014 1:01 a.m.
She’s been here for six years, battled through two separate ACL injuries and is now earning a graduate degree at UCLA.
Through it all, Atonye Nyingifa has played 135 games, the most in UCLA women’s basketball history, and now can finally see the end of a long, but rewarding, journey.
The sixth-year senior forward still has a guaranteed three games left on her schedule. There’s the last final regular season games this weekend against Colorado (15-12, 5-11 Pac-12) and Utah (11-16, 4-12).
Then the Bruins will play in the Pac-12 tournament. Each win will mean one more game for Nyingifa to cherish.
Although this weekend might mean the end of the regular season for UCLA (12-16, 6-10), Nyingifa viewed last weekend’s heartbreaking losses to California and then Stanford on Senior Night as her last two senior games. Now she needs to find a way to forget and move forward.
“I think the main thing is to stay focused. It’s really important for us to end on a strong note,” Nyingifa said. “We’re going to stay the course, keep our faith strong.”
In Nyingifa’s last season, even though the wins haven’t shown it, coach Cori Close views the sixth-year senior’s final chapter as a happy ending.
Close stressed the importance of growth both on the court and off, and said she sees that from the senior who’s been a part of the team longer than Close herself.
“She’s been nothing short of spectacular,” Close said. “I’m most proud of the skills she has garnered that’s going to be with her long after her jump shot fades.”
Still, Nyingifa is the ultimate competitor, a trait that Close said she loves the most in Nyingifa.
While Nyingifa still regrets not getting more wins and chasing down the ultimate goal of a championship, she said she knows that her time at UCLA was well spent.
She does admit to getting emotional and sentimental about the end of her Bruin career, but said she’s happy to be moving forward after getting all she can out of the program.
However, it’s not over quite yet. Nyingifa, along with senior guard Thea Lemberger, will be looking to add a happy ending to their stories at UCLA.
“I think that they’re still excited for the rest of the season that’s coming up for us,” said redshirt junior forward/center Corinne Costa. “I know we’re all fighting for them so we can keep playing as long as we can with them.”
