Time to Prove It or Lose It for UCLA, USC

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. —  Today is the first day of the NCAA Division I women’s basketball tournament for UCLA and USC.

It’s also a proving ground.

The Bruins (20-10), seeded fifth in the Cleveland Regional, will be trying to win their first tournament game since 1999 when they meet Bowling Green (28-2) here at 11:30 a.m. PST.

This is the highest UCLA has been seeded in the tournament since it was seeded third and reached the Elite Eight seven years ago.

USC (18-11) is seeded eighth in the Bridgeport Regional and will play South Florida (19-11) at 6:30 p.m. PST in Norfolk, Va.

Despite injuries that have reduced them to seven scholarship players and one walk-on, the Trojans want to show they are as competitive as last season’s team that reached the second round.

Two different scenarios, one mission.

UCLA guard Nikki Blue said Saturday that the Bruins aren’t happy with just winning their first Pacific 10 Conference tournament championship and earning a good seeding in arguably the NCAA tournament’s toughest bracket.

“There’s definitely a sense of urgency for me, Lisa [Willis] and the other seniors,” Blue said. “We really want to win this game; it would be good to get one under our belts. Plus, our team has the potential to do well in this tournament.”

Having won five straight games and eight of their last nine, the Bruins are confident.

“We ended the regular season on a good little run and are probably playing our best basketball now,” Coach Kathy Olivier said.

Bowling Green, seeded 12th, is led by junior forward Ali Mann, who is averaging 14.6 points, and junior center Liz Honegger, who is averaging 13.2 points. The Falcons have a 19-game winning streak and won the Mid-American Conference regular-season and tournament titles.

If the Falcons are to continue what Coach Curt Miller called “the magical run that we’ve had to get here,” they will have to play a smart game.

“One of the reasons we’ve been successful is we’re in the top 10 in [fewest] turnovers per game,” Miller said. “We have to keep our turnovers low, and when they gamble and trap us we have to be able to handle that. If we can handle that pressure and don’t turn the ball over, we can have a fun night.”

USC will be meeting a South Florida team that made a successful transition from Conference USA to the Big East in earning a No. 9 seeding.

The Bulls have the NCAA’s third-leading scorer in junior forward Jessica Dickson (22.1), and have played 14 teams that are either in the NCAA or WNIT fields.

“We tried to find some players to prepare us, but we couldn’t find any ... quick and fast enough to emulate what South Florida does,” USC Coach Mark Trakh said. “It’s kind of hard to prepare ourselves for the way they play because they are really athletic, and Dickson is really tough to defend.”

On offense, it will be up to the Trojans to show they have other options besides the backcourt tandem of junior Eshaya Murphy and sophomore Camille LeNoir to score.

Trakh said this has been one of his most satisfying seasons, win or lose.

“In 25 years of coaching I’m probably most proud of this team of any team I’ve coached,” he said. “We’ve gone through a lot of adversity. We lost our leading scorer from last year [Brynn Cameron], we lost one of the leading rebounders and shot blockers in the Pac-10 [Jamie Funn], and we lost another kid Thursday to a broken arm [Markisha Lea].

“Despite the injuries, the kids have never quit or given up. We managed to win 18 games ... and I’m really happy to be representing the Pac-10.”