UCLA Women’s Basketball Faces Iowa In Mexico In the Cancun Challenge

The Bruins head down south to take part in this mini tournament.

By melissacastro@missmelicastro Nov 24, 2016, 5:39pm PST

After another blowout win, this time against the Cal Poly Mustangs, the UCLA Bruins are headed south of the border for two games at the Cancun Challenge this Thanksgiving break.

Against Cal Poly, just like Southern University, the Bruins were highly favored to win the game. They had blown out their previous opponent and it would come as no surprise if the same thing happened. Cal Poly put up a big fight in the first quarter of the game. UCLA only led by a couple of points. After that, Cal Poly faded a bit and were down 22 points at the half. In the second half, UCLA did well to capitalize on the Mustang turnovers with 21 points in 10 mishaps for the Mustangs. In the beginning of the third quarter, Kennedy Burke became the third Bruin to reach double-figures. By reaching this milestone, it became apparent the game was not going to end well for Cal Poly. In fact, it did not as UCLA went on to win the game 80-64 and improve to a 3-1 record in the season.

Tonight, UCLA plays Iowa as part of the Cancun Challenge. UCLA and Iowa will be two of ten teams that will be competing. Those teams include Northeastern, Stanford, Purdue, Wichita State, James Madison, Davidson, Idaho State, and Toledo. The team has made it very clear this trip is a business trip. All that’s on their mind is basketball.

Iowa will be a tougher opponent than their previous two. Iowa is 4-1 so far this season. The Hawkeyes have a team that is very versatile, dynamic, and solid. With this mini tournament, it gives coach Cori Close a chance to tinker with the lineup and possibly the formation. With these games, experimentation should be the main objective and they should allow Coach Close to give time to players who haven’t had many minutes so far. This gives rest to players who have played non-stop and truly need it. Maybe in the midst of this experimentation, Close finds a formation or lineup that greatly surprises her.