In an early September afternoon inside a UC Berkeley auxiliary practice court, 6-foot-7 Chen Yue, her uniform drenched, her breathing heavy, toiled with her teammates from Cal's women's basketball team.
The shuttle run and post drills, along with a weightlifting session that followed, has been a staple for the 20-year-old trailblazing center from China. In her third year at Cal (1-0), which faces No. 1 UConn on Friday (7 p.m. ET, ESPN3), Chen is determined to help the 20th-ranked Golden Bears get far in the competitive Pac-12 Conference and possibly, as the school has done five times in the past six seasons, earn a berth in the NCAA tournament.