Women’s basketball prepares to face Iowa, Toledo at Cancun Challenge

Cancun is a city known for its beaches, resorts and buzzing nightlife. US News ranked it as the second-best spring break destination, trailing only Miami.

When the women’s basketball team heads there for a tournament this Thanksgiving, however, that will all have to wait – at least for a couple of days.

“We play Thursday and Friday, and then Saturday we get to do whatever we want and so I think that will just be all fun,” said senior guard Kari Korver. “Leading up that we are thinking about basketball most of the time.”

The No. 9 Bruins (3-1), coming off a two-win weekend, reiterated the point: When there was basketball to play, this was not a vacation.

“(Traveling) is very businesslike – at least for me,” said junior forward Monique Billings. “I have a businesslike mentality as well as the rest of the team. We know that these trips are business trips.”

[Related: Women’s basketball defeats Cal Poly despite lack of focus]

Last year, the Bruins took a similarly timed trip to the Bahamas. They ended up beating the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs and taking the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the then-No.3 team in the country, to overtime before losing 92-84.

Coach Cori Close believes they’ll need to bring the same focus when they play in the upcoming tournament, this time against a 4-1 Iowa and undefeated Toledo.

“(Iowa) is versatile. They play really, really hard,” Close said. “They’ve got some kids that can shoot the ball. I think their point guard is really dynamic and solid. I think they’re going to cause us some issues. We better come ready to play because Iowa is going to give us all we can handle.”

Still, the coaches and players made it clear that the Bruins were going to appreciate the experience outside of the basketball realm.

“I know they’re going to have a great time,” Close said. “The strength of this team is how much they enjoy each other and how much they relish all the adventuresome and incredible opportunities that UCLA provides for us.”

The team has a veteran roster with the bulk being composed of the six juniors from the highly heralded 2014 recruiting class. They’ve been playing and traveling together for three years, some longer than that.

The team is a far cry from when those players started the season 0-5 their freshman year. They grew up last year and made it to the Sweet 16, and even bigger things are expected this year.

“It feels like we’re clicking,” Billings said. “We have really good team chemistry on and off the court. I think that’s what helps us on the court. We just have a level of respect for one another and we enjoy being around each other.”

This will be the second elongated trip the Bruins have taken this year, the first being a four-win undefeated tour through Australia over the summer.

[Related: UCLA basketball finds success in Australian exhibition games]

That trip, though, had a slightly different feel to it.

“A lot of that was vacation,” Korver said. “We played basketball, too, and the games were important, but we didn’t prep a lot. We just got to have a good time seeing the world.”

Cancun is a much different place than Australia. Though its mentality may be different, the team is looking for a similar result.

“This will be my first time going to Cancun,” Billings said. “I think we have a lot to look forward to.”