UCLA forward Angela Dugalic looks to pass around Minnesota guard Mara Braun during a Sweet 16 game on Friday in Sacramento.
(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)
UCLA has now survived two games when it didn’t shoot well from long range. The Bruins can get away with that when Lauren Betts and Angela Dugalic are playing well in the paint, but the deeper into the tournament they go, the more the offense will need to have multiple dimensions.
“We try to put ourselves in situations every day in practice where we’re facing adversity, where we’re being pushed to our edge, and that’s where you’re forced to grow and feel forced to make decisions,” UCLA guard Charlisse Leger-Walker said. “It shows you who you really are as competitors, and I think we’ve learned how [to adapt.]”
One of the biggest strengths of UCLA’s starting lineup is how, on paper, it can score in different ways. But the Bruins have shot 29% from three-point range during four NCAA tournament games.
Overall, though, they’ve shot 51.2% from the field. The majority of that scoring has come in the paint, where UCLA has outscored each team it has faced in the tournament.
