(Editor's note: UCLA's Maylana Martin, a senior forward, will share a weekly diary with ESPN.com throughout the season. For more information on the Bruins, visit UCLA's official athletic site.)

Feb. 23, 2000

	Martin

Hello everybody and welcome to another week of my diary. It's hard to believe there are only a couple of more weeks left of this, depending on how far we go in the tournament. It's getting down to crunch time.

We're coming off a pretty good weekend after sweeping the Arizona schools at home. Both games were pretty tight. We played ASU first and the Sun Devils played a pretty good game against us and it went down to the wire. We used that game to try and correct some of the problems that have been plaguing us lately. I think we outrebounded them and that was a focus. We also tried not to commit so many fouls and I think they only went to the line 19 times, which is low for us.

The Arizona game was a huge win for us. Stanford, Arizona, Oregon and us were in a four-way tie for first place in the Pac-10 and that win at least knocked Arizona out of there. Like I said, it was a big win, and it was on TV so it gave us a chance to show the people who don't usually get to see us play how good we are.

We kept the same mentality that we had against ASU, in the fact that we tried not to foul the Wildcats and really tried to crash the boards hard. We didn't want to get into a real physical game against them and get some silly fouls. Janae (Hubbard) and I actually fouled out, but the rest of the team tried not to foul, I guess. But, you know, that happens sometimes. It was a good game to get us on track and ready for the Oregon weekend.

A big week coming up
If there was a bigger weekend that last week, this is it. Not only because it's for the Pac-10 title, but also because of how we did up there in Oregon last year.

The Ducks' crowd is always really intense, and it's always fun to play up there because The Pit is a real intimidating place to play so you want to go in there and have fun. Personally, I like the boos. It's just neat to hear that many people booing your team so loudly. It's kind of a rush to see and it's exciting.

Oregon is always going to play a real consistent and fundamental game. The Ducks are real big inside and they have pretty good outside shooters so we just need to be ready. Hopefully we can get them out of their pace and make it a faster, up-tempo game. Maybe that will rattle them a little bit because they like to force you to make stupid mistakes and make you beat yourself. Hopefully, we'll be able to take them out of that and play our own game.

As far as Oregon State, we can't overlook them. The Beavers are playing really well right now and they are coming off a sweep of the Washington schools. They are big inside, too, and always play really well at home. We're just going to need to stay focused this weekend and hopefully come out with a sweep.

Sentimental shout outs
Seeing how this is my last trip to Oregon, I think I need to talk about this trip a little bit. It's always a fun trip. The hotel we stay at in Eugene -- The Valley River Inn -- has to be the best hotel we stay in during the year. It overlooks the river and during study hall, we kind of get to look out the window at the river while we're supposed to be studying.

Being a senior, I kind of get to reflect on all the great places we get to visit and the Oregon trip is always one of my favorites because of that hotel. Even though it's been raining here lately, it's usually a nice change to go up to Oregon and experience the overcast, rainy weather and just kind of sit around in the hotel by the fire and everything. It's going to be something I will always remember when I sit back and think about my time at UCLA.

Finally, some people have been asking me to talk about the NCAA Tournament a little, but right now I'm just totally focused on Oregon and Oregon State. I'm trying not to look too far ahead and the tournament is still a couple of weeks away and we still need to get through the Pac-10. Hopefully we can finish up the Pac-10 strong and stay in the West. But my focus right now is the Ducks and the Beavers.

I also want to give a shout out to our scout team. They have been great this year and I think they are probably the best scout team we've ever had. We have a dedicated group of guys that come in everyday. It's consistently the same group of guys who come in and that makes it easier on the coaches as well as the players because they have formed kind of a team amongst themselves. They are really good about learning the plays and the opponents' offenses, and I think they have gotten us ready for a lot of games this year. They are getting a story about them and I think that they really deserve it and I just wanted to thank them for all their hard work. Thanks guys!