A Look at UCLA — The Bruins have won four of the last five games. One of the big reasons for the turnaround has been the consistent play of Melanie Pearson. The 6-1 sophomore guard has averaged 19.1 (105/6 g)points over the last five games while hitting 41-72 shots from the field (.569) and 22-34 three-point shots (.647). Point guard Erica Gomez has averaged 6.3 assists (38 / 6 g) per contest over the last six games after starting the season with a 3.6 mark in the first five games.

Oregon State (5-6, 0-2) Probable Starters— 
No.  Name              Pos. Ht.    Cl.    PPG    RPG
24   Missy Ross        F    6-2    Jr.    7.7    7.7
15   Monica Watts      F    5-9    Sr.   10.6    6.4
32   Sissel Pierce     C    6-4    So.   11.7    7.2
11   Nicole McAllister G    5-8    Sr.    9.6    2.6
13   Vanessa Morris    G    5-7    So.    9.3    3.5

A Look at the OSU — The Beavers are coached by Judy Spoelstra (3rd season).OSU has lost four in a row, but are 3-0 at home this season. Forward Monica Watts has led OSU in scoring in four of the last six games, including 21 v. Stanford and 20 v. Portland State.

The Series with OSU — UCLA leads the series 19-10 and has won the last three meetings. The Bruins won 79-68 in Corvallis in the last meeting (2/27/98) between the two schools.

Oregon (5-5, 1-1 Game Jan. 8 v. USC) Probable Starters— 
No.  Name              Pos. Ht.    Cl.    PPG    RPG
14   Nicole Strange    F    5-10   So.    4.4    2.9
54   Brianne Meharry   F    6-1    Fr.   13.4    5.5
40   Angelina Wolvert  C    6-3    Fr.    5.8    3.2
10   Natalie Hughes    G    5-10   Sr.   13.3    2.9
11   Lisa Bowyer       G    5-8    Jr.    9.1    2.8

A Look at Oregon — The Ducks are coached by Jody Runge (5th season).Oregon has been to the NCAA tournament the past four seasons. Freshman Brianne Meharry, a member of three prep national championship teams at Oregon City HS, paces the Duck attack.

The Series with Oregon — Oregon leads the series, 13-12. The Ducks have won eight of the last nine meetings. Oregon won both meetings last season, 64-61 in Eugene (3-1-97); and 76-64 in Pauley (1-31-97).UCLA has lost five straight games in Eugene. The last UCLA road win in the series came on March 14, 1992 (83-76).

UCLA Notes

• Fox Sports West2 will air the Oregon game live on Saturday.
• Entering the week, Maylana Martin ranked third in the Pac-10 () in scoring (20.9 ppg); fourth in rebounding (8.0); second in ft % (.809); seventh in blocks (0.73); tied for 10th in steals (1.91)
• Senior Tawana Grimes is now sixth on the all-time UCLA steals list
• Martin entered the week having scored in double figures in the last 21 games. She is also averaging almost nine free throw attempts per game (8.55) this season
• Center Janae Hubbard recorded the fourth double-double of her career (2nd this season) with a 15-point, 11-rebound effort vs. ASU
• Marie Philman has scored in double digits in the last three games (a career-best streak); she had career highs against Notre Dame, scoring 17 points and grabbing nine rebounds earlier this season
• Melanie Pearson has made 22 of her last 34 three-points shots (64.7%) — She ranks 10th in the Pac-10 in scoring (13.7); 10th in Fg% (.520); 6th in blocks (0.82); 2nd in 3-pt. Fg% (.551)
• Aisha Veasley entered the week tied for second in the Pac-10 in steals at 2.73; Tawana Grimes is 9th at 2.1
• Martin's 32-point effort vs. San Diego was her fifth game of 30 or better in her career and she now has 16, 20-plus scoring games in all
• The 96 points scored vs. Rutgers was the most since UCLA totaled 108 v. Wash. State on Jan. 13, 1994
• Erica Gomez entered the week second in the Pac-10 in assists (5.1)
• The Bruin team leads the Pac-10 in blocked shots (3.36), steals (13.1) and 3-Pt. FG% shooting (.396) and ranks second in scoring (82.6)

UCLA Player Notes

#5 Marie Philman — Ranked 16th entering the week in the Pac-10 in scoring ... Has scored in double figures in the last three games ... Had 14 vs. ASU and 13 vs. Arizona this past weekend ... Had 13 points and four steals in the win over Seton Hall ... Established a new career-high with 17 points versus Notre Dame ... Also grabbed a career-best nine boards in that game and handed out a personal best six assists in the GW game. Career Highs: Points-17 v. Notre Dame 11-30-97; Rebs.-9 v. Notre Dame; Assists-6 v. GWU 11-28-97

#10 Erica Gomez — Second in the Pac-10 in assists (5.1) ... Had a season-high 10 points in the Arizona game ... Season-best 11 assists vs. Rutgers ... Had a 16 assists to six turnover ratio in Big East Challenge games ... Suffered a sprained left foot in the second half of the GW game and was limited to just four minutes of action vs. Notre Dame ... Bounced back to play 31 minutes vs. San Diego and 39 minutes at Fresno ... Had eight assists vs. UNC ... In 1996-97, she earned Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and first-team Freshman All-American honors in 1995-96 ... Earned a tryout for the USA World University Games team in August ... Tore the ACL in her right knee Oct. 8, 1996 in a pick-up game at Pauley Pavilion and sat out the entire 1996-97 season. Career Highs: -Points- 25 v. Ore. State 2-29-97; Rebs. 11 v. Stanford 2-24-96; Assists- 15 v. Long Beach St. 12-6-96; Steals- 7 v. Vanderbilt 11-26-97

#11 Melanie Pearson — Scored in double figures in six straight games ... Ranks sixth on the all-time three-point shot list with 53 made shots (5th is Nickey Hilbert, 54; 4th is Ricarda Kuypers 56; tied for 2nd are Rehema Stephens and Allison Arredondo at 67) ... Hit 22 of her last 34 three-point attempts (.647) ... Named to the Conference Challenge All-Tournament team after scoring team-high totals of 26 points vs. Rutgers (five three-pointers) and 15 vs. Seton Hall (three treys) ... Had a tremendous road trip to North Carolina and Duke for which she was named Pac-10 Player of the Week ... Poured in 22 points at Duke on 8-11 shooting (5-7 shots from three-point range) in her only start this season; Had a 23-point outing vs. UNC in which she also tied her career best with five made three-point shots ... Was 8-12 from the field in the UNC game and hit all five treys and both free throw attempts ...Entered the week second in the Pac-10 in three-point shooting (.551, 27-49) and tenth in Fg% (.520) ... Also sixth in blocked shots (0.82) ... Poured in a career-best 30 points v. Notre Dame ... In 1996-97, she started the first two games of the season at the point guard position but was forced to sit out the next seven due to illness ... Came back to start the final 12 games of the 1996-97 season and averaged 14.4 points in those games ... Career Highs: Points-30 v. Notre Dame 11-30-97; Rebs.-9 v. USC 1-24-97; Assists- 5, last v. Duke 12-20-97; Made three-pointers in game- 5, last v. Rutgers 12-27-97

#13 Maylana Martin — Scored in double figures in all 11 games this season and in the last 21 straight games overall and in 35 of her 38 career games to date ... Averaging 20.9 points entering the week to place third in the Pac-10 in scoring and rank among the national leaders ... Martin is fourth in the conference in rebounding at 8.0 ... Overall, she ranks in the top 10 in five conference categories — 7th in blocks (0.73); 10th in steals (1.91); 2nd in ft % (.809) ... Named to the Conference Challenge All-Tournament squad ... Hit several clutch baskets and free throws down the stretch in the Rutgers win (24 points) ... Her two free throws with 24 seconds to play in regulation tied the score with the Scarlet Knights and sent the game to overtime ... Recorded her second and third double-doubles of the season v. UNC with 13 points / 10 rebounds and v. Duke with 27 points / 10 rebounds ... Had 21 points in the win over Fresno State, including two FT's in the final seconds to clinch the win ... Hit for 32 points (11-20 fg, 10-10 ft), one shy of her career-high, vs. San Diego and pulled down 12 rebounds to tie her career mark in that category ... Scored 27 points vs. George Washington ... The pre-season All-American (third-team by Athlon and honorable mention by Street & Smith's) was the leading scorer (17.8) and team captain for the USA Junior National Team, which captured its first-ever gold medal at the Junior World Championships this summer ... In 1996-97, she became UCLA's second-straight Pac-10 Freshman of the Year ... Led the conference in field goal % (.559), and was fifth in scoring (17.9), seventh in both steals (2.4) and free throw % (.747) Career Highs: Points- 33 v. Washington 3-6-97; Rebs.- 12, last v. San Diego 12-5-97; Steals- 7, last vs. ASU 2-16-97; Blocks- 2 v. LMU 12-5-96.

#21 Jamie Oenning — Seen action in four games this season ... In 1996-97, she tied a career-high with seven points vs. New Orleans last year ... Scored five points against LMU ... Played in 17 games. Career Highs: 7, last v. New Orleans 12/29/96; Assists: 4 v. Cal 2-23-95

#30 Tawana Grimes — Has moved up to sixth on the all-time steals list with a total of 220 ( 5th is Natalie Williams, 226; 4th is Anita Ortega, 240) ... Has been in double figure points twice this season with 15 v. Notre Dame and 11 v. Fresno State ... 10th in the Conference in steals at 2.0 per game ... In 1996-97, she earned honorable mention All-Pac-10 ... Took over the point guard duties following the injury to Erica Gomez and handed out a career-high 122 assists (4.5 average, fourth in the Pac-10) ... Career Highs: Points-22 v. Arizona 2-14-97; Rebs.-9 v. Wash. 2-10-95; Assists-9 v. New Orleans 12-29-96; Steals-8 v. Ore. State 2-2-97

#31 Carla Houser — Appeared in nine games this season ... Matched her career-high with eight points vs. San Diego ... In 1996-97, she appeared in 25 games ... Played in a season-high 21 minutes vs. New Orleans, scoring eight points and pulling down five rebounds. Career Highs: Points- 8, last v. San Diego 12-5-97; Rebs. - 7 v. Ore. State 2-2-97

#32 Takiyah Jackson — Has appeared in eight games this season with a best of four points in three different games, the last vs. Seton Hall ... In 1996-97, she came off the bench the last 11 games of the season after starting the first 16 ... Had two double-doubles — 21 points, 12 rebounds vs. St. Mary's and 18 points and 10 rebounds vs. Stanford. Career Highs: Points- 21 v. St. Mary's; Rebs.- 12 v. St. Mary's; Assists- 5 v. Tx. Tech 11/29/96; Steals- 4 v. San Diego 11/23/96

#34 Janae Hubbard — Starter in the last seven games, five of which were Bruin wins ... Had a 15-point, 11-rebound day vs. ASU for her fourth career double- double and second this season ... Registered a career-high 18 points vs. Rutgers ...Added a season-best 11 boards for her first double-double ... Has led the Bruins in rebounding in three of the last four games ... Had 16 points vs. San Diego ... Ranks 9th in the Pac-10 in Fg% (.557) and 16th in rebounding (5.4) ... In 1996-97, this honorable mention All-Pac-10 Freshman team member scored a then career-high 16 points vs. Oregon State and Cal ... Had two double-doubles— 14 points, 12 boards vs. New Orleans and 14 points, 11 rebounds at Washington. Career Highs: Points- 18 v. Rutgers 12-27-97; Rebs.- 12 v. New Orleans 12/29/96; Blocks- 2, last v. Notre Dame 11-30-97

#35 Aisha Veasley — Had the third double figure scoring game of the season with 11 vs. Arizona ... Chipped in with nine rebounds, a season-best, in the win over Duke ... Ranks tied for second in the Conference in steals (2.73) entering this week's games ... Had five steals in the win over Seton Hall ... Tied her career high with six steals vs. North Carolina ... In 1996-97, she started all but two games after Grimes moved to the point guard position in the season's third game ... Finished tied for third in the Pac-10 with 2.7 steals per game ... Had a career-best six steals vs. Western Kentucky Career Highs: Points-18 v. Arizona 2-16-95; Rebs.-12 v. Oregon 3-2-96; Steals- 6, last v. UNC 12-18-97

#44 Carly Funicello — Has come off the bench the last seven games (4.0p, 3.0r) after starting the first four contests (1.8p, 3.5r) ... Chipped in with a season-best six boards in win over Rutgers ... Tied her career-high with three blocked shots vs. Notre Dame ... Scored 10 points v. UNC, the eighth double-digit game of her career, and a season-best total ... In 1996-97, she was named to the honorable mention All-Pac-10 Freshman team ... Started all 27 games for UCLA ... Led UCLA with 20 blocks ... Scored a career-high 17 points in her collegiate debut vs. San Diego Career Highs: Points-17 v. San Diego 11-23-96; Rebs.-8, last v. USC 2-22-97; Blocks- 3, last v. Notre Dame 11-30-97

#45 LaCresha Flannigan — Set a new personal best with nine points in the win over Seton Hall ... Also had a career-best two steals v. Seton Hall ... Hit for eight points twice this season (Duke and San Diego) ... In 1996-97 as a prep senior, she led San Bernardino HS to a spot in the quarterfinals of the CIF Division II playoffs ... Named to the "Second Five" of the 1997 All-State team ... Averaged 23 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.4 steals, 4.5 assists and 1.3 blocks ... Two-time All-CIF first-team selection. Career Highs: Points- 9 v. Seton Hall 12-28-97; Rebs.- 3 v. Arizona 1-2-98; Assists- 1 , last v. Arizona 1-2-98; Steals- 2 v. Seton Hall 12-28-97

Previous Games

Jan. 4 - UCLA 95, Arizona State 73 — UCLA evened its Pac-10 record at 1-1, by using a 61 point second half to power past ASU, 95-73 before 1,064 fans in Pauley Pavilion. Melanie Pearson, one of four Bruins in double figures, keyed the second half attack by scoring 14 of her 18 points in the final 20 minutes. In addition, the sophomore guard scored nine of UCLA 's 16 points in a 16-5 run which moved the Bruins from a 50-44 lead at 13:30 to 66-49 at 9:25 to play. UCLA went on to lead by as many as 28 points, 90-62, at the 3:23 mark before settling for the final 95-73 margin.

Jan. 2- Arizona 82, UCLA 71 — UCLA dropped its Pac-10 opener to 8th-ranked (USA Today) Arizona, 82-71 in Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins, who led by as many as seven, 27-20, took a 42-40 advantage into the locker room, but watched the lead disappear behind poor shooting (28% in second half) and foul trouble. Maylana Martin picked up her fourth foul at the 10:29 mark of the game with the score knotted at 55-each. Arizona proceeded to outscore the Bruins 15-4 before Martin returned to the lineup. Martin led UCLA with 17 points and nine rebounds. Marie Philman (13), Melanie Pearson (11) and Aisha Veasley (11) also were in double digits for the Bruins.

Dec. 28 - UCLA 88, Seton Hall 58 — UCLA won its fifth game in the last six outings with a 88-58 victory over Seton Hall. The Bruins used a 15-0 run midway through the first half to break open the game and improve their record to 5-4. UCLA enjoyed a 13-10 lead at the 16:01 mark and expanded it to 28-10 at 12:37 on their way to a 46-28 halftime lead and never looked back. Melanie Pearson led three UCLA players in double digits with 15 points. Bruin defense forced 33 Pirate turnovers and held SH to just .412 shooting.

Dec. 27 - UCLA 96, Rutgers 93 ot — Melanie Pearson scored 10 of her 26 points in overtime to lead the Bruins to a 96-93 win over Rutgers in the Pac-10 Big East Conference Challenge. UCLA began its rally from 16 points down with less than two minutes to play in the first half. Rutgers led 43-27 before a Erica Gomez three-point shot sparked the Bruins on a 7-0 run to close the half. The Kinghts upped their lead to 12, 56-44, with 15:20 to play before the Bruins mounted their comeback. A Maylana Martin layup gave UCLA the lead at 60-58 with 8:54 to go and the game stayed close from there. A pair of Martin free throws in the final 24 seconds tied the game at 74. Pearson then took over the game in the extra period. Janae Hubbard recorded her third career double-double for UCLA with 18 points and 11 boards.

Dec. 20 - UCLA 93, Duke 83 — The Bruins led from start to finish in handing #17 Duke a 93-83 loss in Durham. Maylana Martin and Melanie Pearson delivered a one-two punch to the Blue Devils. Martin had 27 points and 10 rebounds and Pearson added 22 more points, including five made three-point shots. The sophomore duo combined to make 17-26 shots, pull down 13 boards, hand out seven assists and make nine steals.

Dec. 18 - UCLA 78, North Carolina 82 ot — The fifth- ranked Tar Heels used a furious second half rally to send the game into an extra period and then defeated the Bruins 82-78 in overtime. UCLA led 39-27 at the half and 60-47 with 7:25 to play before UNC staged its rally. Maylana Martin registered her second double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Melanie Pearson came off the bench to hit 8-12 shots, including all five three-point shots and both free throw attempts, to pace the Bruins with 23 points.

Dec. 14 - UCLA 74, Fresno State 71 — Maylana Martin led UCLA with 21 points, including two free throws with 0.5 seconds to play which clinched the Bruin win. Neither team led by more than four points over the course of the final 11 minutes of the game. The Bruins led 72-71 and had the ball with 21 seconds to play when Fresno State caused a Bruin trunover. Martin then stole the ball back for UCLA and was fouled with just under a second to play. The Bruins had battled back from a 50-42 deficit (14:47) to take their first lead of the second half, 53-52 on a LaCresha Flannigan free throw at the 8:47 mark. After three lead changes and four ties, a Martin jump shot with 3:10 to play gave UCLA the lead for good at 65-63 and their second win in a row.

Dec. 5 - UCLA 87, San Diego 69 — Maylana Martin poured in 32 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to pace the Bruins to a 87-69 win over the University of San Diego. The Bruins shot a season-best .548 from the field, including .593 in the first half of play which ended with the Briuns in charge, 44-29. San Diego never got closer than 12 points the rest of the way. Janae Hubbard came off the bench to add 16 points, tying her career high in the process.

Nov. 30 - UCLA 91, Notre Dame 93, 2 ot — When Marie Philman's three-point shot bounced off the front of the rim at the buzzer ending the second overtime period, Notre Dame finally managed to best the Bruins 93-91. UCLA had forced an overtime when Melanie Pearson hit an off-balance three-point shot which just beat the horn at the end of regulation and tied the score at 67.Both teams missed shots in the lane in the final 10 seconds of overtime and went to a second extra period tied at 79. After ND hit a pair of free throws with 37 seconds to play, Tawana Grimes made the second of two free throws with 21 seconds to go to make it 93-91 Irish. The Bruins then forced a ND turnover with five seconds to go and called timeout having to go the length of the court. Philman took a pass into the frontcourt and fired her potential game-winning shot from straight out at the top of the three-point circle. Pearson led UCLA with a career-high 30 points, 28 of which came after halftime. Philman added a career-best 17 and game-high nine boards.

Nov. 28 - UCLA 73, George Washington 78 — The Colonials scored the last two points of the first half and first 13 of the second to open up a 38-26 advantage which they never relinquished. The Bruins got as close as two on three occasions, the last coming at 63-65 with 4:16 to play. GW answered with a three-pointer and held on for the win. Maylana Martin paced the Bruins with 27 points and seven boards. Marie Philman and Janae Hubbard were also in double digits with 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Nov. 21 - UCLA 63, at St. Mary's 83 — An opponent record 14 three-point shots by SMC helped to do in the Bruins in the season-opener. UCLA took the early lead at 13-8 (13:40 mark) thanks to six points from Maylana Martin. SMC outscored the Bruins 18-4 over the next four minutes to take a 26-17 advantage at 9:05. The Gaels hit six three-point shots in the early going. The score was then tied at 28, 30 and again at 32 before SMC hit a pair of treys in the last minute of the half to take a 40-35 lead to the locker room.The Gaels opened the second half by outscoring the Bruins 10-4, hitting three more treys to take a 50-39 lead with 15:25 to play. UCLA could get no closer than nine points the rest of the way.

Head Coach Kathy Olivier — Now in her fifth season as UCLA head coach, Kathy Olivier has steadily built the program to reflect her own positive, upbeat and outgoing personality. This season, she will take the floor with a team headed by the Pac-10 conference’s last two Freshmen of the Year, forward Maylana Martin (1996-97) and point guard Erica Gomez (1995-96).

In her seven seasons as an assistant, the team enjoyed five winning seasons and reached the NCAA Tournament in two of the final four years. In 1991-92, the Bruins compiled a record of 21-10 and reached the NCAA Sweet 16. This past season, UCLA continued its streak of being the only team in the Pac-10 to have at least one player named to the all-conference squad in each of the league’s 11 years, all seasons with Olivier on staff.

Individual Stats
Double Double (pts/reb)     Players (s) 
                            Martin (3)
                            Hubbard (2)
Double Figures (pts)        Martin (11)
                            Pearson (7)
                            Philman (6)
                            Hubbard (4)
                            Grimes (2)
                            Veasley (2)
                            Gomez (1)
                    
20-Pt.Scoring (* 30 pt or better)  Martin (6)*
                                   Pearson (4)*
Double Figures (reb)               Martin (3)
                                   Hubbard (2)        
Leading Scorers (w/ ties)          Martin (7) 
                                   Pearson (4)
Leading Rebounders (w/ ties)    Martin (7)
                                Hubbard (3)
                                Grimes (1)
                                Veasley (1)
                                Philman (1)
For the Record
UCLA 80 pts or over    5-1
UCLA 79 pts or under   1-4
Opp 80 pts or over     2-4
Opp under 80 pts       4-1
Lead at half  Tied  Trail at half
4-3           0-1   2-1
Fg% .500 or better  Less than .500
4-0                 2-5
Opp Fg% under .450  Between .450-.500
4-2                 2-2
Opp Fg% over .500
0-1
Outshooting or tied with Opp.   Outshot by Opp.
5-2                             1-3
UCLA Reb. Advantage / Tied      Opp. Advantage
4-3                             2-2
With five minutes to play
UCLA leads 5-2
UCLA trails 1-3