During UCLA women’s basketball practice on Friday, coach Cori Close made it clear she wanted to see more from forward Angela Dugalić.
“You’re not using what you’ve earned,” Close recalled telling her while speaking with reporters Friday.
Dugalić is going to face some of the best players in the country this week. Close thinks she can match up with them, but she needs Dugalić to play like it. With all the work she’s done on her low-post game over the offseason, Dugalić can’t settle for floating around the perimeter.
Close won’t let her.
“I just want her to be all she can be,” Close said. “She’s been an animal down there in the low post, and I want her to hunt for that. I don’t want her to settle for playing on the perimeter when she’s got a whole lot more tools in her toolbox that she’s not accessing.”
Close got that version of Dugalić in Sunday’s 88-37 rout of Southern at Pauley Pavilion. The third-ranked Bruins were in full control over the Jaguars from whistle to whistle, and Dugalić led the way with 20 points, five rebounds and an assist. She shot eight for 15 from the floor, with a trio of three-pointers.
It was pure dominance by UCLA. They shot 51% from the field while holding Southern to 29%. They out-rebounded Southern by 30. They forced 13 Jaguars turnovers, nine of which were in the first half. The Bruins scored 28 points off turnovers. And on the offensive end of the floor, UCLA was flowing with 24 assists to Southern’s nine.
Dugalić opened the scoring for UCLA with a mid-range jumper followed by a fastbreak layup. She finished the first half with nine points, tied for the team lead with freshman forward Lena Bilić, who finished with 14 points in the game.
Senior guard Gabriela Jaquez added eight rebounds and five assists to go along with six points. Her first basket, a layup after cutting through the paint in the second quarter, was her 1,000th career point.
The Bruins entered that second quarter with a 22-9 lead thanks to a 14-2 run over the final six minutes of the first quarter after holding Southern (1-4) scoreless during the final three minutes. UCLA then exploded for a 27-0 run in the second quarter while holding the Jaguars scoreless for the entire period.
Still, Close wasn’t satisfied.
“I’m more interested in the process. They missed shots, we didn’t necessarily take them away,” Close said. “Other people are trying to beat us, we are trying to compete to be us.”
UCLA (6-0) will face No. 4 Texas on Wednesday in the Players Era Women’s Championship in Las Vegas, followed by either No. 2 South Carolina or Duke on Thanksgiving. The Bruins will then host No. 15 Tennessee on Nov. 30.
The post Angela Dugalić responds to her coach’s challenge, leading No. 3 UCLA past Southern appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
