‘She’s a glue player’: Camryn Brown shines as leader for UCLA women’s basketball

The Bruins have their fair share of stars.

Senior guard Charisma Osborne is a predicted first-round pick in the 2023 WNBA draft. Freshman guard Kiki Rice touts more awards than years of college, having been voted Gatorade Female Athlete of the Year in 2022 and earning three gold medals to her name. Even freshman guard Londynn Jones has received a few notable headlines herself after being selected to this year’s Pac-12 All-Freshman Team alongside Rice.

But at the heart of this deep UCLA women’s basketball squad is senior guard Camryn Brown, a player who only averages 3.1 points per game.

“I wrote her (Brown) a note this morning,” said coach Cori Close, after the Bruins’ first-round Pac-12 tournament victory Wednesday. “I just said, ‘You know you are our quarterback out there.’”

Brown orchestrates the Bruins with her blocks, assists and rebounds that lead the team to countless passion plays, according to Close. The guard – who has started in all but four contests for the Bruins this season – uses her 20.5 minutes per game to put up 3.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 0.8 steals per game.

“She’s a glue player,” Close said.

In the Bruins’ upset win over Arizona in the Pac-12 tournament quarterfinal on Thursday, Brown collected six of the Bruins’ first eight points, and notched six rebounds, four assists, one steal and two key blocks across the game.

When asked about her performance Thursday, Brown attributed her achievement to her Bruin squad.

“I love putting my teammates in the best position to succeed and for them to have success,” Brown said. “It’s fun to be out there moving pieces (and) be like, ‘OK, let’s just hit a shot.’”

However, Brown’s value isn’t just dictated by her dedication to the blue and gold when the game clock is running. She also finds moments to be a leader when the clock stops.

In arguably the most high-stakes contest for the UCLA freshman class to date, Brown found a moment to still Jones’ nerves after the latter missed her first 3-point attempt of the Bruins’ Pac-12 quarterfinal contest. Brown helped the rookie up, grabbed her face and uttered some words or encouragement.

“I was like, ‘Londynn, you’ve done so many great things for us so many other games, and you’re going to do great things tonight. So I just want you to take a deep breath. I need you to reset,’” Brown said.

In Thursday’s matchup, the guard was also the lifeline of many integral plays. In one noteworthy moment, the Bruins were running a press break against Arizona’s defensive attempt to regain some ground in the near blowout. Rice garnered possession of the ball and heaved it down the court to Brown, who was running towards the basket.

Not only did she make the succeeding layup, but she drew the foul and converted the shot into a three-point play to put the Bruins up by 16 in the third quarter.

“Sometimes the defense sags off of her, but she’s a threat,” said redshirt sophomore forward Emily Bessoir. “We know she can make it and we know she knows we have her back, and we know she has ours. So that just gets us fired up.”

Close echoed Bessoir’s sentiments and highlighted Brown’s impact, especially in high-stakes games such as those in this week’s contests.

“She’s what makes you go from having talented individuals to a cohesive team that does something bigger together than they can do on their own,” Close said. “She deserves so much credit for what she brings to our team.”