UCLA finishes their five-game road trip as they play UC Berkeley on New Year’s Eve. Losing two conference games in a row is not how UCLA would like to open Pac-12 play.

The last time these two teams met, it ended with a Golden Bear victory. If Jordin Canada would have made her 3-pointer, the game would have gone into overtime. Unfortunately, the ball hit the rim and UCLA suffered its third loss in conference. In their last five meetings, four of them have been decided by six points or less. The Bruins could have a tough game today because UC Berkeley has won their last six meetings at home.

From the first whistle, UCLA will need to get their offense off and running. They failed to do so against Stanford and it cost them. Their biggest concern, however, will be the offensive boards. The Bruins need to be playing aggressive. They need to attack the boards and follow their shots. They do this well on defense, but when it comes to offense, they haven’t been able piece it together.

On defense, the Bruins need to take advantage of their height. Against Stanford, they weren’t able to and the Cardinal offense ran through them pretty easily. The biggest positive on defense was the mixing and matching of the defense. The Bruins would switch it up from zone defense to man-to-man to 1-3-2 and other combinations. The players were able to easily switch from one defense to the other without missing a beat. Now, if only they can use their height to their advantage.

UCLA needs to piece it together before they head back home to Westwood.

This is your UCLA Women’s Basketball vs. UC Berekely open thread!

Go Bruins!