COLLEGE NOTEBOOK: TALKING TURKEY WITH UCLA STAR.Byline: Ramona Shelburne Ramona Shelburne is an American sports journalist currently writing for the Los Angeles Daily News. Shelburne was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She attended El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, California where she was a class valedictorian. Staff Writer It wasn't so surprising that a UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX women's basketball Women's basketball is one of the few games which developed in tandem with men's. It became popular, spreading from the east coast of the United States to the west coast, in large part via women's colleges. player was chosen to play for the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. at the World University Games last August in Izmir, Turkey. The Bruins possess three of the best guards in the country: Nikki Blue Nikki Blue was a WNBA basketball player from 2006-2006. She played in 24 games and played for the Washington Mystics. Nikki attended West High in Bakersfield, California and later went on to play for UCLA. , Noelle Quinn Noelle Quinn (born January 3, 1985 in Los Angeles, California) is a professional basketball player in the WNBA, currently playing for the Minnesota Lynx. Quinn attended college at UCLA and graduated in 2007. and Lisa Willis. The surprise was that Willis was chosen for the team, ahead of her higher-profile teammates. USA Basketball seemed to know what it was doing. Willis has been on a tear this season. The senior guard from Narbonne High of Harbor City broke the Pacific-10 career steals record (317) a little more than a week ago and is second in the conference in scoring (18.6 points per game), behind reigning Pac-10 Player of the Year Candice Wiggins of Stanford (21.6 ppg). So what did Willis pick up in her time overseas that has helped her this season? ``I don't even know what to take from the trip yet, there was just so much,'' she said. ``I'd never even been out of the country before, except to Tijuana, I guess.'' She began the summer with UCLA's two-week tour of Australia, then headed to Turkey for three weeks with USA Basketball. Willis says her international experience has her thinking about playing overseas when she finishes at UCLA this spring. It also broadened her outlook, although not all of it agreed with her. ``The food was not a highlight,'' she said. ``I'm a very finicky fin·ick·y adj. fin·ick·i·er, fin·ick·i·est Insisting capriciously on getting just what one wants; difficult to please; fastidious: a finicky eater. eater in the States, so to go to a foreign country where they couldn't even tell me if it was beef or steak. ... I didn't eat much except for rice.'' She might not have saved any recipes, but she did pick up a little Turkish. ``Yeah, I learned to say 'Merhaba,' I think that means thank you,'' she said. ``But I said that for everything. 'Merhaba' meant so much stuff.'' In which countries would she consider playing? ``I would say Russia, because they pay the best,'' Willis said. ``I'm worried about food everywhere, though.'' --Also: UCLA's Ben Kohlloeffel won his third successive men's tennis title Sunday, beating Pepperdine's Scott Doerner 6-3, 7-6 (5) at the National Collegiate Tennis Classic in Indian Wells. Kohlloeffel, who won the ITA ITA abbr. initial teaching alphabet ITA initial teaching alphabet: a partly phonetic alphabet used to teach reading ITA n abbr (BRIT) (= initial teaching alphabet) → Regionals and ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships last fall, received a qualifying wild-card berth for the ATP ATP: see adenosine triphosphate. ATP in full adenosine triphosphate Organic compound, substrate in many enzyme-catalyzed reactions (see catalysis) in the cells of animals, plants, and microorganisms. Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells in March. ... The inaugural Pacific-10 rugby championship will be held Saturday and Sunday at UCLA's North Athletic Field. Top-ranked Cal, which has won 20 of 25 USA Men's Rugby college titles, is the overwhelming favorite. UCLA is ranked 11th and Washington State 14th. Action begins Saturday at 8 a.m. and Sunday at 10:30 a.m. The title game is Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ... Pepperdine is the coaches' pick to win a third successive West Coast Conference baseball title. Loyola Marymount was predicted to finish fourth. ... Cal State Northridge was picked to finish last in the Big West Conference baseball race. Cal State Fullerton is the favorite. Ramona Shelburne, (818) 713-3617 ramona.shelburne(at)dailynews.com |
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