It might just take a
play on words for the Bruins to put last week's loss to USC behind them.
Scratch that - ask coach
Cori Close, and it's a certainty that the only way her team can rebound this
week is to, well, rebound.
"We have to
rebound, that's the bottom line," Close said. "This team is best when
we can use our versatility and attack before the defense sets its rotations,
but we can't do that until we get rebounds and secure that end of the
floor."
The crashing of the boards
will be just one of several aspects to look out for this week, with UCLA
hosting Oregon State tonight at 7 p.m. at the John Wooden Center, followed by
an afternoon tilt against Oregon on Saturday.
While rebounding
continues to be one of the coaching staff's primary preaching points this
season, it was made clear against USC that the Bruins will need to generate
more offense. And according to Close, it's a situation that has been duly
noted.
"Oregon State plays
a lot of zone, and they're going to try and play off of Rhema (Gardner) and
Mariah (Williams)," Close said. "We've been working on how to put
Mariah and Rhema in positions where they can score because I expect Oregon
State to really try and make our role players make plays."
Speaking of the
opposition, the Beavers come into Westwood boasting the talents of one Patricia
Bright, who leads the conference in blocked shots (3.76 swats per game). But be
that as it may, Bright's interior presence won't exactly be top priority.
"Bright is a a great
player and does her job really well, but I'm more worried about stopping their
three-point shots and keeping them out of the lane," Close said. "If
she starts to alter the game with her shot-blocking ability, we'll move her
around and do some things to limit that factor."
This week figures to
provide a clearer perspective of where exactly the Bruins stand in a rather
convoluted Pac-12 battle; Stanford has clearly separated itself from the pack
with a 6-0 conference record, but as it stands, UCLA (2-3) remains just two
games behind second-place USC (4-1), with four other teams tied with the Bruins
for fifth place.
In the end, these are
two very winnable games for the blue and gold, and two wins keep the Bruins in
the thick of the conference race.
