DEPARTMENT OF INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS Women's Basketball Contacts: Steve Rourke/James Ybiernas For Immediate Release SID Phone-Email: (310) [email protected]/(310) [email protected] Website: www.uclabruins.com UCLA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: 2011-12 PROSPECTUS Bruins Welcome Head Coach Cori Close; Return Nine Players from 2010-11; Add Three Recruits 2011-12 UCLA W. Basketball Schedule New head coach Cori Close welcomes back nine returning letterwinners and three starters from Date Opponent Time last season's record-setting 28-5 campaign. Among the list of returning letterwinners is honors 11/7 Vanguard (Exhibition) 7 p.m. candidate Jasmine Dixon, a senior forward, who led the team with a 7.3 rebound average (8th in 11/11 McNeese State (Pre WNIT) 2 p.m. the Pac-10) and a 2.4 steals average (3rd in the Pac-10), along with placing second in scoring with 11/13 ETSU/Tenn. Te c h (Pre WNIT) 2 p.m. a 12.1 average. However, Dixon suffered a ruptured right Achilles tendon in September and is 11/17 Preseason WNIT Semifi nals TBA expected to miss the season. 11/20 Preseason WNIT Championships TBA The Bruins still bring back returning starters Markel Walker, a junior guard/forward, who averaged 11/25 West Virginia (CSUN Tourney) 5 p.m. 11/26 CSUN/Colgate (CSUN Tour.) 5/7:30 p.m. 8.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game last season, and Atonye Nyingifa, a redshirt junior forward, 11/30 San Diego State 7 p.m. who posted 8.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game a year ago. Senior guard Rebekah Gardner, who 12/4 @ Loyola Marymount 5 p.m. came off the bench in 21 of 32 contests in 2010-11, is also back after recording 7.9 ppg and 3.3 12/13 @ LSU 5 p.m. PT rpg last season. 12/17 Tennessee 2 p.m. The 2011 team fi nished with a 28-5 record (16-2, second in Pac-10) after advancing to the second 12/20 @ Te m ple 4 p.m. PT 12/22 @ St. Joseph's 10 a.m. PT round of the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season. The 28 wins rank as the second-most 12/29 California* 7 p.m. in school history. The 16 wins in the Pac-10 conference are the program's best total ever. 12/31 Stanford* 2 p.m. The Bruins added two recruits signed in last year's early period, 6-3 forward Kacy Swain and 5-11 1/5 @ Arizona* 6 p.m. PT guard Moriah Faulk. Five-seven guard Alexis Perry was added to the incoming class in May. 1/7 @ Arizona State* (FSN) 3 p.m. PT 1/14 USC* 2 p.m. UCLA, which fi nished with a No. 13 national ranking (ESPN/USA Today) last season, will start the 1/19 Oregon State* 7 p.m. 2011-12 season hosting the fi rst and second rounds of the WNIT Tournament. The Bruins will also 1/21 Oregon* 1 p.m. welcome San Diego State and Tennessee on the non-conference home schedule. The road slate 1/26 @ Utah* 6 p.m. PT includes games at the Cal State Northridge Tournament against West Virginia and then either 1/29 @ Colorado* (FSN) 1 p.m. PT Northridge or Cornell, Loyola Marymount, LSU and a trip to Philadelphia to meet Temple and St. 2/2 Washington* 7 p.m. 2/4 Washington State* 2 p.m. Joseph's. Fourteen games are on tap against teams which appeared in the postseason last year 2/9 @ Cal* 7 p.m. (Tennessee, Temple, Stanford, Arizona State in NCAA Tournament) (USC, Arizona, California, Colorado, 2/12 @ Stanford* (FSN) 12 p.m. St. Joseph's in WNIT). 2/19 @ USC* (FSN) 12 p.m. UCLA Returning Starters (# ’11-12 starts/career starts) — 2/23 Arizona State* 7 p.m. 2/25 Arizona* 2 p.m. No. Name (starts in '10-11/career gs/career g) Pos. Ht. Cl. PPG RPG 3/1 @ Washington State* 7 p.m. 33 Jasmine Dixon (28/55/58) F 6-0 Sr. 12.1 7.3 3/3 @ Washington* 2 p.m. 23 Markel Walker (21/48/67) G 6-1 Jr. 8.5 5.4 3/7-10 State Farm Pac-12 To u rney @ Los Angeles 11 Atonye Nyingifa (27/43/64) F 5-11 Jr.R 8.8 5.4 In Reserve NCAA 1st Rd. / 2nd Rd. No. Name ('10-11 g/career gs/career g) Pos. Ht. Cl. PPG RPG Sat./Mon., 3-17/19 (Chicago; Chapel Hill, NC; College Park, MD; College 2 Jackie Shepard (6/0/16) G 5-10 Jr. 0.0 0.0 Station, TX; Little Rock, AK; Nashville, TN; Tallahassee, FL, Spokane, WA) 5 Mariah Williams (28/6/61) G 5-4 Jr. 1.5 0.4 Sun./Tue., 3-18/20 (Ames, IA; Baton Rouge, LA; Bowling Green, OH; Bridge- 1 Thea Lemberger (14/0/14) G 5-7 So. 0.6 0.2 port, CT; Norfolk, VA ; Norman, OK; South Bend, IN; West Lafayette, IN) 20 Rhema Gardner (22/0/22) F 6-1 So. 1.0 1.2 NCAA Regionals 34 Corinne Costa (27/0/27) C 6-4 So. 1.7 1.5 Sat./Mon., 3-24/26 (Des Moines, IA - Wells Fargo Arena; Kingston, RI - Ryan Center) 35 Rebekah Gardner (32/19/97) G 6-1 Sr. 7.9 3.3 Sun./Tue., 3-25/27 (Fresno, CA - SaveMart Arena; Raleigh, NC - RBC Center) Incoming Freshmen NCAA Semifi nals Sun., Apr. 1(Pepsi Center) Denver, CO No. Name (HS Senior ppg/ rpg) Pos. Ht. Cl. High School (Hometown) NCAA Championship Tu e ., Apr. 3 (Pepsi Center) Denver, CO 00 Moriah Faulk (13.7 p/ 1.5 r) G 5-10 Fr. Santa Monica HS (Phoenix, AZ) *Times listed are local to game site & subject to change / home games played in Wooden Center 25 Alexis Perry (10.0 p) G 5-5 Fr. Brea-Olinda HS (Cerritos, CA) 10 Kacy Swain (11.3 p/ 10.3 r) F 6-3 Fr. St. Bernard's HS (Los Angeles, CA) Not Returning No. Name ('10-11 gp/career gs/ career gp) Pos. Ht. Cl. PPG RPG Final '10-11 Pac-10 Standings 1 Nina Earl (30/26/124) F 6-1 Sr. 2.5 1.1 Te a m Pac-10 Overall 3 Darxia Morris (33/82/122) G 5-8 Sr. 12.2 3.2 Stanford 18-0 33-3 4 Christina Nzekwe (33/33/127) F 6-4 Sr. 2.1 2.5 UCLA 16-2 28-5 21 Doreena Campbell (33/126/127) G 5-10 Sr. 9.2 3.2 Arizona State 11-7 20-11 Arizona 10-8 21-12 USC 10-8 24-13 And Then There Were 12 — UCLA will begin play this coming season in the new Pacifi c-12 Confer- Cal 7-11 18-16 ence. Colorado and Utah were accepted as new members of the Pac-10 in June, 2010 and offi cially Washington 6-12 11-17 became members of the Pac-12 on July 1, 2011. The women's teams will continue to play an 18- Washington State 6-12 8-23 game conference schedule in 2011-12. UCLA will only play at Utah and at Colorado (the two new Oregon 4-14 13-17 members will not come to Los Angeles this year) and the Oregon schools will only come to Los Oregon State 2-16 9-21 Angeles (there will be no trip to play at the Oregon schools this season). pg. 1 of 3 What's Returning for 2011-12 — The Bruins return 53% of games started (87/165), 60% of the minutes played (3,956/6,652), 60% of the fi eld goals made (497/832), 43% UCLA Quick Facts of the three-point fi eld goals made (29/68), 70% of the rebounds (773/1,100), 55% of the assists (264/484), 79% of the blocked shots (61/77), 61% of the steals (255/420), General Information 61% of the points scored (1,316/2,166). Mailing Address: .................................. UCLA Athletic Department ................................................... .................................. P. O. Box 24044 The Votes are In — The fi nal ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll listed the Bruins as No. ................................................... .......Los Angeles, CA 90024-0044 13 which was the program's highest season-ending listing since being ranked 7th Founded: ............................................................................................1919 at the conclusion of the 1999 season. UCLA was ranked No. 8 in the fi nal regular Enrollment: ................................................... .......................................39,500 season AP poll, its best fi nish since a 7th-place ranking in the fi nal 1981 AP listing. Chancellor: ............................................................................Dr. Gene Block The 2010-11 season was the sixth in which UCLA had been ranked in each AP poll Athletics Director: ................................................... ........ Daniel Guerrero during the year. Sr. Women's Administrator: ................................................Petrina Long All-Conference Honors — Senior guards Doreena Campbell and Darxia Morris along Conference: ................................................... ......................................Pac-12 Nickname: ................................................... ..........................................Bruins with then-junior forward Jasmine Dixon were selected to last year's All-Pac-10 squad. Colors: ....................................................................................Blue and Gold Dixon and Morris received honorable mention all-defensive team honors. '11-12 Home Court: (Cap.): ..................John Wooden Center (2,000) National Rankings — In the fi nal NCAA ranking of the 2010-11 season, the Bruins Athletics Dept. Phone: ................................................... .. (310) 825-8699 were listed in the Top 30 in six categories --- 6th in steals (12.7); 15th in turnover Ticket Offi ce Phone: ................................................... ....(310) UCLA-WIN margin (4.79); 21st in rebound margin (6.5); 22nd in fi eld goal% (.445); 26th in scoring Offi cial School Website: ......................................www.uclabruins.com defense (55.3); 30th in scoring margin (10.3).