A day after UCLA was anointed the perfect girls’s school basketball workforce within the nation within the season’s opening month, Cori Shut confirmed up on the observe facility to see one other early riser.
Her gamers.
9 Bruins have been already on the courtroom when Shut arrived at 6:40 a.m. Tuesday.
“That told me what I needed to know,” Shut mentioned Wednesday, “about where their vision really is and where their aspirations lie.”
As Shut has repeatedly mentioned, it’s not the place you’re in late November however the place you’re on the finish of the season that counts.
That’s to not say that UCLA hasn’t loved the perks of rising to No. 1 within the Related Press rankings for the primary time at school historical past following a 15-point victory over defending nationwide champion South Carolina.
Shut mentioned she acquired an “amazing text” from Bruins legend Ann Meyers-Drysdale whereas additionally being congratulated by professors, chancellors and former coaches. Three tv cameras confirmed up at observe Wednesday, exceeding latest media turnout for the soccer and males’s basketball groups.
“This is not something you do alone, it takes a village,” Shut mentioned, “and to share it with the village is really great.”
There was additionally a bigger development to have a good time. UCLA is simply the twenty sixth workforce to carry the No. 1 rating within the 40 years of the AP girls’s ballot.
“The parity of our game,” Shut mentioned, “is just getting better.”
Though UCLA dominated South Carolina in each side, Shut recognized a number of areas that wanted enchancment, together with defensive rebounding, transition protection, communication and off-ball rotations.
Possibly the truth that a lot went incorrect in a blowout victory was essentially the most encouraging growth for a workforce that desires to win all of it.
“Gabriela Jaquez said, ‘It makes me so excited that we were able to play at such a high level and we have so much more we need to grow in,’ ” Shut mentioned, referencing the junior ahead who has established herself as one of many high reserves within the nation due to her toughness and playmaking.
Among the many issues that Shut might be monitoring carefully when the Bruins (5-0) open play within the Rainbow Wahine Showdown on Friday in Honolulu in opposition to Tennessee-Martin (1-4) is rebounding. Though main the nation in offensive rebounding thanks largely to the presence of middle Lauren Betts, UCLA ranks within the 74th percentile in defensive rebounding.
“With our size and our depth, it should not be that way,” Shut mentioned. “So we’ve got a lot still to work on.”
Shut can be monitoring turnovers. The Bruins dedicated 16 in opposition to the Gamecocks, exceeding the utmost of 11 their coach desires per recreation.
What may need made UCLA’s high rating most significant, Shut mentioned, was that it bolstered the picture the workforce already had of itself.
“I really felt no different,” Shut mentioned, “because we already saw ourselves as a No. 1 team and with championship habits and commitments and aspirations; it’s just other people got to see it, and I think that’s why we performed that way.”
One monumental victory down, three-plus months to their meant vacation spot to go.
