UCLA women’s basketball has ‘tough conversations’ before Big Ten Tournament
The UCLA women’s basketball team faced a whirlwind of emotions in the days after losing the Big Ten Conference regular-season title to USC on Saturday. The storm swelled Monday with a 7 a.m. player-led meeting.
“We have, at best, a month left of basketball left,” point guard Kiki Rice said. “And if we don’t come out here, really get everything that we can get together, handle our own business – then we’re gonna regret it down the line.”
Rice co-coordinated the meeting with Gabriela Jaquez and Charlisse Leger-Walker, who has been out all of this season due to injury but is still an active voice within the team. It was the first player-led meeting that anyone had gone through at UCLA.
The players watched film from the USC game and shared candid thoughts about what had happened in the game and in the days surrounding it. The air had to be cleared before the Bruins’ first Big Ten Conference game Friday.
Players spoke honestly about what they were seeing in themselves as well as in others.
“It was tough conversations,” Rice said. “We wanted to really focus on not holding back and saying everything we needed to say to each other and knowing that we’re doing it because we want to win, not because there’s bad meaning behind it.”
Rice, who was named All-Big Ten First Team along with center Lauren Betts, sensed renewed energy in the proceeding practice and a new commitment to team goals. The closeness of the team had allowed for difficult exchanges to happen without hurt feelings.
“We have a really good relationship off the court,” Betts said. “That helps, knowing that you’re always going to have a friend regardless of what we say to them. And at the same time, we all want to win. At this point, it’s March, and you don’t really have time for feelings. We have to win games.”
UCLA (27-2) is the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten women’s basketball tournament – behind top-seeded USC – and earned a double-bye when it became the conference’s regular season runner-up Saturday.
The Bruins will play the winner of 10th-seeded Nebraska vs. seventh-seeded Illinois on Friday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Nebraska beat Rutgers 84-60 on Wednesday night and was led by 6-foot-3 center Alexis Markowski’s 19 points and 10 rebounds. Illinois, which will take on the Cornhuskers at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, had a first-round bye.
UCLA and USC, which has handed the Bruins their only losses, are on opposite sides of the bracket, meaning that there is a chance for a rivalry rematch in the championship game Sunday.
“I’d love to get another matchup against them,” Rice said. “They’re a great team and we still have a lot to prove.”
The time since Saturday’s loss to USC has been unkind, but not without lessons. UCLA coach Cori Close, who has also been vocal about getting a rematch with the Trojans, is reassured by her team’s behavior this week.
“They said the hard things, confronted each other,” she said. “And there was a real turning point. That’s something we’ve been begging them to do all year long. I’m much better because I’ve seen their leadership and their ownership of what happened.”
No. 4 UCLA vs. Illinois or Nebraska
When: 3:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis
TV: Big Ten Network