(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. 8, 2000

	Martin

This weekend was pretty much a roller coaster. We went from having an awful game against Stanford on Thursday (an 83-68 loss) to coming back and beating Cal (74-67) on Saturday.

Against Stanford, a couple of people had really good games. I know Michelle Greco had 26 points and (Nicole) Kazcmarski was in the teens with like 16 or something like that. But the post players had a combined six points. It wasn't that we played a really bad game, we just didn't get a lot of touches. Stanford did a really good job of packing it in and forcing us to shoot from the outside.

Stanford also shot really well from 3-point range, and went to the foul line a lot, so that was pretty much the story of that game.

Cal was a little bit different. Our post players were involved a lot more and (senior guard) Erica Gomez played in that game, so that helped out as well. She's always one to pack it in and make sure we all get a little more involved. We tried to keep them off the free throw line and we ended up coming out with a win. Anytime you can get a split on the road is good. A sweep is even better, but a split is just fine with us.

	THE FULL DOSE OF DIARIES
	Oregon's Shaquala Williams: Getting past a tough week
	Stanford's Carolyn Moos: Sticking to the philosophy

As far as how this recent road trip went, nothing really unusual happened. We went to a Border's bookstore for a while. Usually when we lose the first game, we really don't get to do too many fun things. We just kind of hung out. We went and ate at a neat little deli in Berkeley, which was kind of interesting. Berkeley is kind of an interesting place to drive around in. It looks kind of like a foreign country and reminds me of Paris a little bit; just the little shops and how there are back alleys with different stores and markets makes it a very unique place.

We play USC on Saturday, which marks the start of the second half of the conference season. This is always a big deal because any time you beat a team the first time, it's always harder to do it the second time. USC is real athletic and plays tough defense. It's kind of an up-in-your-shorts type of defense. The Trojans are very aggressive and will try and run us up and down the floor. It's going to be a dogfight. Especially over at USC because they have such a homecourt advantage over there. It's important that we keep this winning streak going and finish the Pac-10 strong.

Thanks to mom and dad
In closing, I just want to talk about my parents for a little bit. I'm really excited that they get to come to all the games, especially because this is my senior year. Before they would come on a lot of road trips, but this year they are making it a point to come on every single one, which I think is really neat. They came this past weekend and they went to Stanford and the Arizona schools and I know they are going on the Oregon and Washington trips later this month.

It's so nice to have them at my games, and every time they come they bring some old friends or family that I haven't seen in a long time. This past weekend I got to see some cousins from up north on my dad's side of the family that I haven't seen in about three or four years. I got to see my some of my mom's old friends and some kids that I used to play with when I was little that aren't so little anymore, and that's neat. I guess I just want to thank my parents for giving me such great support and always being there.