(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.)

Jan. 19, 2000

	Martin

We're just coming off an 82-62 win over USC. I think it was a very good win for us. I think that it meant a lot not only to our team, but also to our school. I know that Southern California has kind of been on top this year as far as ending streaks, so I'm excited that we had a chance to redeem our school and glad we could be a part of breaking USC's tradition, this year especially. It was definitely on my mind during the game. I don't know about the rest of the team, but that was definitely a focus. I didn't want USC to have a sweep of every sport.

As far as how the game went, I think that we played well the second half. We were only up by five at halftime, but after the break, I think we came out and made some adjustments, crashed the weak-side boards a little bit harder and came out a little bit more aggressive. I think that our talent definitely showed as far as the score. But I think that we also wanted it really badly. So that was probably the deciding factor. I think us wanting it helped our talent shine through.

En route to Arizona
Now we're about to go to the Arizona schools. This is always a big weekend for us. Arizona has always been good in the past, but this year, both schools are really good. ASU has been playing really well lately. And I think that this is going to be a good test for us.

	THE FULL DOSE OF DIARIES
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	Notre Dame's Ruth Riley: On the road again
	Oregon's Shaquala Williams: It's all about heart

Arizona has a really good fan base. The Wildcats have a lot of people that come up to see them play, so that always makes for some interesting games. Arizona State doesn't have as many people, but the Sun Devils are definitely a very scrappy, feisty team. We have to be up for both games.

Arizona has a couple of big players inside. (Arizona coach) Joan Bonvicini always does a really good job with her players. Even if they aren't the tallest, they're really physical and they know how to get positioned. That's definitely going to be a test for me, as well as Janae (Hubbard), Carly (Funiciello) and Takiyah (Jackson) to make sure we hold their post players to as few points as we can, and also in trying to keep them off the boards.

ASU has some people coming back. They have a big girl coming off an injury. She was injured for a little bit last year and I think that this season she's going to try and prove some stuff. I think that's going to be another test for us with their big kids inside. For our guards, I know that Arizona has a lot of really quick, athletic guards.

I think this is where our preseason schedule comes into play. I think that we've played a lot of athletic, physical guards in Tennessee, Rutgers and Louisiana Tech. Playing all those preseason games has helped us match up in the Pac-10.

This is our first Pac-10 road trip of the year. I like going on the road. Sometimes, it gets a little hard. We go out and we're gone for five days. That gets a little hard just being away from school, being away from your friends for so long. I love eating on the road, though. Everything's taken care of. It's kind of fun just to sit and hang out with your team and kind of goof around a little bit.

We get a chance to forget about the rest of the world for a couple days, although we have study hall for a couple of hours. Aside from that, it's just basketball. I think that's a good thing. It gives you a chance to focus a little bit more. You don't have all the outside distractions you have when you're home.

Senior season something to savor
This year is a little bit different. This is my senior year, so everyplace I go is definitely special. It's the last time I'm ever going to play Arizona and ASU in Arizona. I'm definitely going to try to savor every moment, take a lot of pictures, and make sure we get a senior picture on each one of the floors in all the different gyms that we play in.

I constantly am sitting back and just taking it all in and realizing that, hey, this is my last year. Even when I'm at a home game, I'll be sitting at the taping table thinking, wow, this is one of the last times I'm going to do this. I won't be doing it next year. It hits me still. I try not to think about it too much when I'm playing. But after the game, during practice, you kind of look around and think that this isn't going to be part of my life too much longer.

Our team gets along really well and I think that's what makes road trips so much fun. We have a lot of fun on the road. We kind of goof around. One road trip we had a WWF match. Another road trip, we always get into some kind of stupid games at the restaurants and just goof around. At the Alabama game, we played volleyball with a paper napkin. We made a little ball out of a napkin. That's always fun. We revert back to our AAU and high school days and act a little bit younger than we are.

But it's all in good fun. We get focused when it comes to game time, so that's the most important thing. I think that being on the road, in a town where no one really likes you because you're the opposing school, helps build team chemistry. I think that having no one but yourself to lean on just makes our team that much stronger and makes us a more cohesive unit.