Women’s basketball looks to learn from loss to James Madison last year
Sophomore guard Jordin Canada and the UCLA women’s basketball team will host two tough opponents this weekend, looking to extend their season-opening win streak. (Tehya Faulk/Daily Bruin)
By Logan Patton
Nov. 20, 2015 2:45 p.m.
Four points.
That’s all that separated UCLA women’s basketball from James Madison last season. That – and five fouled-out players, in addition to 26 turnovers.
The Bruins are committed to learning from that overtime loss when they face the Dukes again Friday, said junior guard Kari Korver.
“(We’re) a completely different team and we’ve had experience against them last year, so I think we know what we’re going to run into,” Korver said. “We’re going to try pressing some. We try a lot of different defenses, I think that’ll mess them up.”
UCLA will have to formulate a way to limit James Madison’s offense, which has outscored its opponents 180-61 this season, thanks in part to redshirt senior Jazmon Gwathmey, who averages 17 points and seven rebounds a game.
“I don’t think you shut a team down like James Madison. I think you try to make them do things they’re not comfortable with,” said coach Cori Close. “You try to make their people who aren’t as comfortable shooting threes, make threes. You try to make their shooters into drivers. You try to get them to play out of their comfort zone.”
The Bruins will look to focus beyond the arc on both ends of the court against the Dukes. While UCLA ranks sixth in the NCAA, shooting .462 from three-point range, the defense will still have to adapt quickly to take on James Madison, a team that shoots .413.
“This year we have to guard the three-point line better. We have to chase people off the three-point line,” said Close. “We got to chase people off the three-point line, we have to force mid-range jump shots (and) we need to control the three-point line and the war zone.”
This could be a problem for the Bruins if they have to go without sophomore forward Lajahna Drummer, who left UCLA’s last game with an undisclosed lower body injury. Although she only logged eight minutes of playing time, she was able to pick up three defensive rebounds.
“I don’t know yet (about Drummer). She’s just a work in progress so she might be ready, she might not,” said Close. “We’ll just have to see. It’ll be a game time decision.”
Compiled by Logan Patton, Bruin Sports contributor.
