In Hollywood, blockbuster hits all the time get a sequel — even in girls’s school basketball. was an instantaneous basic, match for the silver display, however the sequel was a box-office flop that left the Bruins awestruck.
Regardless of the identical glitz and glamour as the unique, the ultimate scene was something however a contented ending for No. 2 , which on Saturday night time at Pauley Pavilion, cementing a Trojans sweep of the season collection.
In brief, it was brutal.
“I’m simply actually pissed off,” stated. “We didn’t present up and do our jobs.”
Shut, her face flushed with anger, crumpled the field rating in entrance of her and slammed her fist. Beside her, junior guard sat with reddened eyes, her voice breaking as she fielded questions.
UCLA faces “a really bizarre dichotomy,” Shut stated. The Bruins opened the season undefeated and completed with simply two losses, but all she may give attention to was how offended she felt about their efficiency and response to the drubbing. “We let one another down at this time,” she stated.
She pointed to Jaquez and level guard , who additionally sat beside her, because the exceptions, praising their relentless effort. Jaquez made performs on each ends, whereas Rice led the staff with 16 factors, attacking the rim and repeatedly attending to the free-throw line.
For Rice, the frustration mirrored within the NCAA event.
“They had been preventing their butts off, making an attempt all the things to convey everyone with them,” Shut stated. However she didn’t mince phrases about the remainder of the staff, demanding “extra folks that may be counted on to do their jobs — interval.”
Shut stated her gamers had been ready and knew precisely what to do however didn’t execute. She emphasised that she trusts their coronary heart and work ethic however “one thing acquired in the way in which of us doing our job.”
“We aren’t attacking them as people, we’re dedicated to their greatest, and when they’re working lower than their greatest, it’s our job to get them to make a course correction,” Shut stated.
The sport began as many have for UCLA — the Bruins had been sluggish on offense and their opponent seized the early momentum.
Star heart Lauren Betts, sometimes a gradual presence, once more struggled to attain towards USC’s protection. In what might have been her most irritating sport of the season — 11 factors and 11 rebounds — she was whistled for 3 touring violations within the paint and sometimes let her frustration present as she pleaded with the officers for calls.
As if the primary loss to USC hadn’t price the Bruins sufficient — an undefeated season and the No. 1 rating — a second defeat denied them a Large Ten title and a high seed within the convention event.
Shut issued a well-recognized name to motion, and with March upon them, the stakes are rising.
“That is the way in which this prepare goes, and if you happen to don’t assume you can also make the adjustments to be on it, inform us now,” Shut stated. “The best way we flip it round is by folks making a dedication, a selection and being counted on.”
Shut hopes a second straight loss to USC will function a humbling second that forces her staff to regroup earlier than it’s too late.
“The ache of the place you might be needs to be higher than the ache it is going to take to alter,” Shut stated. “Would you like the ache of self-discipline or the ache of remorse? Proper now we’re coping with the ache of remorse — so what are you keen to do about it?”
The following 48 hours shall be essential for UCLA because it prepares for the Large Ten event.
Initially the Bruins deliberate to take two days off, however Shut adjusted the schedule, giving her gamers a day to sit down with the defeat, watch movie and assess their subsequent steps. Monday’s apply, she stated, can be an opportunity “to determine what must occur subsequent.”
Each UCLA and USC secured double byes within the event, setting the stage for a possible championship showdown — a 3rd act of their saga. It might be UCLA’s probability to appropriate the errors of its losses, and a matchup Shut would “100%” welcome.
“If you happen to’re a competitor, sure, convey it on,” Shut stated. “If we don’t, there’s one thing greater incorrect. If anybody in our locker room would reply otherwise, don’t come again.”
