Team to play Slovakia in an exhibition game
By Daily Bruin Staff
Nov. 5, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 Daily Bruin File Photo Senior Michelle
Greco gets ready to drive against Cal last season.
By Adam Titcher
Daily Bruin Contributor
The UCLA women’s basketball team looks forward to playing
again in Pauley Pavilion. After having its worst season in school
history last year, a game against Slovakia will show if the team
has begun to improve. Regardless of its exhibition status, the
squad is still taking this first game very seriously.
“It is a means of preparing ourselves for the Pac-10
conference,” senior center Malika Leatham said. “Our
motto is to put a full effort into everything.”
This game will also mark the first time in a while that the
Bruins will play other women. They have scrimmaged against men
during practice in order to push themselves to the limit.
Head coach Kathy Olivier feels this game will show her
team’s development.
“They are not going to be necessarily what we will face
during the season, but we practice against guys, which makes it
difficult to see if the team has any explosiveness,” she
said.
Olivier wants to see a lot of explosiveness come tip-off.
Despite Slovakia’s European style of basketball, they are
still a notable opponent. UCLA plans on coming out strong,
including senior guard Michelle Greco, who is playing Slovakia for
the fourth time in her career.
“They are an older group of women that love to run and
throw the long pass, so we know what to expect,” she said.
“Hopefully we can get the freshman used to our offensive and
defensive systems.”
The Bruins feel that they can win if they gel as one core group.
Olivier wants her girls to become familiar with one another on the
floor in real game situations.
Two freshmen who will look for experience are 6-foot-7 center
Paula Pickett and 6-foot-4 forward-center Krystle Johnson. They
both add a height advantage UCLA didn’t have last season.
“Rebounding was a big bug-a-boo for ours last year,”
Greco said. “Now we are a quicker team, very up-tempo but
also a taller team.”
Win or lose, Olivier hopes to get good performances from her
girls.
She only wishes that more people would show up. She thinks wins
will fill the seats of Pauley Pavilion.
And she knows that they can only win one game at a time, even if
it is exhibition.
“Our players take pride in giving a good show for our
fans,” she said. “With more support, the team will play
better. I would like to see how we can get fans out
here.”
