Team strides to streak past California

Thursday, January 14, 1999

Team strides to streak past California

PREVIEW: Bruins hope star power players prove enough to keep
hungry Bears at bay

By A. CinQue Carter

Daily Bruin Staff

To reach the mountaintop, one must face and overcome all
adversity along the way.

So begins the story of coach Kathy Olivier and her UCLA women’s
basketball team. The Bruins begin the third leg of their Pac-10
tour tonight when they play the California Golden Bears at
Oakland.

From the first two wayside stops, including road victories over
the Arizona schools and home victories against the Oregon
universities, the Bruins (12-4, 4-0) have escaped undefeated and
virtually unscathed.

Now No. 10 UCLA will look to continue its conference domination
against a promising California squad that has faltered to the tune
of an 0-3 conference start. The Golden Bears (6-6, 0-3), however,
are steered by a coach whose very name is synonymous with Pac-10
success, having coached at USC before beginning her current stint
at Cal.

On the other hand, Marianne Stanley has yet to finish higher
than seventh place in the conference while at Cal. With 398
victories under her belt, Stanley will likely have to wait at least
another week to pick up No. 400.

Despite having their best non-conference record (6-3) since
1992-93, the Golden Bears will not have easy times tonight against
UCLA or Saturday against USC. The brightest spot of this season was
their December victory over eighth ranked Colorado State (17-1) –
the Rams’ only loss of the season.

The Bruins are on a tear right now. They have accumulated win
streaks of both their seven-game (ended at Tennessee) and current
five-game streak.

"We are where we want to be at this point of the season," junior
forward Maylana Martin said of the Bruins’ record and conference
standing. Added junior center Janae Hubbard, "We, as a team, are
progressing very well. And we are still getting better."

Two keys for the Bruins’ success are junior point guard Erica
Gomez and sophomore shooting guard LaCresha Flannigan.

Gomez is currently ranked third nationally with 8.3 assists per
game.

Gomez has been ranked in the top three nationally the entire
season.

Recently, Gomez broke her own UCLA record with 16 assists,
bettering the previous mark by one last Tuesday at Arizona
State.

"When Erica is on, it’s hard for opposing teams to stop her,"
Olivier said, "that’s why we have to have her continue to play
big."

The Bruins have lived for Gomez’s success for three years, so
her triumph is no surprise. Flannigan, however, is playing well
above expectations.

"She’s more active out there now," Olivier said of Pac-10 Player
of the Week Flannigan. "She has become more of a complete player,
and that is what we needed. She was always one of the quickest
players in the conference."

And now that she has the opportunity to play more minutes, she
has the chance to impress, shine and do more with her talents and
gifts.

Flannigan, one of four Bruins averaging double figures in
scoring (12.3 points per game,) paced the Bruin attack with her
sixth straight game in double figures. She bagged 12 vs. Oregon and
20 points vs. Oregon State Friday. She scored a career-best 27
points in a 98-85 win at ASU on Tuesday. In the three games last
week she shot 70 percent from the field.

Other major cogs to the Bruin machine are juniors Marie Philman
(11.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg), Martin (17.8, 10) and Hubbard (14.6, 8.1).

Additionally, junior Melanie Pearson, the Bruins’ main
three-point threat averages 8.3 points, freshman Michelle Greco is
turning in 8.6 points per game, and junior Carly Funicello is
leading the conference with a field goal percentage of 60.7
percent.

After this warmup tonight, the Bruins will travel to face Tara
VanDerveer’s Stanford Cardinal at Maples Pavilion on
Saturday.MICHAEL ROSS WACHT/Daily Bruin Senior Staff

LaCresha Flannigan helped lead the women’s basketball team to a
85-51 victory over the Pepperdine Waves on Dec. 30.

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