LOS ANGELES -- With six seniors -- including each of the team's post players -- graduating, the UCLA women's basketball team has some big shoes to fill next season.

	Maylana Martin is one of six seniors from last season's UCLA squad.

But during the spring signing period, the Bruins moved closer to filling those shoes, signing three frontcourt players from Texas junior colleges. Shalada "She-she" Allen and Stacy Robertson, both from Kilgore College, and Malika Leatham from Blinn College will compete as juniors at UCLA next season.

The signings come after the Bruins were shut out in the early recruiting period.

"When we didn't sign anybody early, the idea was to try to find players that were ready to step in and play right away and all three of these players fit that," Associate Athletic Director of Recruiting Michael Sondheimer said.

"I would be very surprised if at least two of them don't start. They are all talented people."

Allen is a quick and athletic 6-foot-2 power forward-center who averaged 14 points and seven rebounds last season while being named to the All-Conference team.

Robertson, a 6-foot forward, is another All-Conference honoree, and averaged 14 points and six rebounds last season. A perimeter threat, she shot 37 percent from 3-point range last season.

Leatham, a 6-2 forward-center who chose UCLA over Oklahoma State, averaged 10 points and eight rebounds last season but is primarily known for her defensive efforts.

"These are three extremely athletic players who are hard workers," UCLA coach Kathy Olivier said. "They will each have a chance to be big contributors and are excellent additions to our program."

Kilgore women's basketball head coach Scotti McClain was excited that two of her players are moving on to play for the Bruins.

"The most important thing I see for them is the degree they are going to get," McClain said. "I think it's great that they are going to play basketball, but having a degree from UCLA is going to open doors for them that basketball alone could not provide them."

The influx of players will hope to combat the loss of forward Maylana Martin, center Janae Hubbard, point guard Erica Gomez, forward Marie Philman, forward Takiyah Jackson and center Carly Funicello.

Combined, the seniors scored 66 percent of the UCLA's points and grabbed 72 percent of the Bruins' rebounds last season.

"Hopefully (the new recruits) can come through for us," junior shooting guard LaCresha Flannigan said.

In addition to the transfers, Olivier expects 6-foot forward Melanie Pearson to return from a Mormon mission to play her senior season. Before she left, Pearson was one of the Bruins' top 3-point shooters.

Also, Bruin volleyball standout Kristee Porter is expected to play basketball next season. The 6-foot guard was a standout basketball player in high school.

The signings and addition of Pearson and Porter leave UCLA with one scholarship to give out for next season. The end of the late signing period is May 15.

"We are looking for the best athlete available,"Sondheimer said.

The Bruins hope to perform better than they did in the early recruiting period when they narrowly missed out on several elite recruits. Most notably, UCLA missed out on two California seniors, 6-2 center Ebony Hoffman and 5-11 guard Diane Taurasi.

Hoffman chose USC over the Bruins while Taurasi, who has been named by several publications as the top recruit in the nation, chose Connecticut over UCLA.

"The early recruiting period was unfortunate," Sondheimer said. "We went after the best players in the country and you don't get any credit for finishing second in recruiting. You finish second, you finish last. That's the problem with recruiting."

Story written by Chris Umpierre of the Daily Bruin.