A hefty share of offseason transfers – including every member of last year’s freshman class – left former Bruins scattered across the country.
And as a result, facing off against former teammates has become a norm for the Bruins.
No. 4 UCLA women’s basketball (8-1) will continue its reunion tour with last year’s roster when it faces Oregon (10-0) and former guard Avary Cain in its conference opener at Pauley Pavilion on Sunday.
The reigning Big Ten tournament champions will play every single one of last season’s transfers at some point this year, in addition to former associate head coach Shannon LeBeauf, who departed the program for Rutgers in June.
And in the team’s two matchups against former teammates thus far, it has been Bruin – current and former – dominance on both sides of the ball.
When UCLA played Elina Aarnisalo – its leading freshman scorer last season – and then-No. 11 UNC on Nov. 13, the guard led her new team in points with 13. And in last Sunday’s contest against then-No. 14 Tennessee, it was forward Janiah Barker, last year’s Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year honoree as a Bruin, who led the Lady Volunteers in points with 25.
“It was fun to be out there, fun to compete with them,” said senior guard Kiki Rice. “It was focusing not on any individual, not just on her (Barker), but on the team as a whole.”
Cain will likely pose much less of a threat than Aarnisalo or Barker, averaging just 3.6 points with the Ducks this season and failing to breach the team’s top five in any major statistical category. Fellow sophomore Katie Fiso, on the other hand, has the numbers to vie for a spot at the top of head coach Cori Close’s scouting report.
The guard is Oregon’s leading scorer with 15.6 points per game and is coming off 24- and 23-point outings against Auburn and Oregon State, respectively. After averaging 3.1 points and 0.8 rebounds last season, Fiso has stepped into a more pronounced role this season following the graduation of guard Deja Kelly.
While the Ducks may be one of just six 10-0 teams in the nation – and off to one of their best starts to a season in program history – a weak strength of schedule so far means their limits are relatively untested.
Oregon’s closest game came against Auburn last Sunday, when it produced a 58-53 win off just nine assists and a collective 16.7% clip from the 3-point line. Apart from that contest, the Ducks have not faced a Power Four team across a fall slate defined by blowout wins over the likes of Western Oregon and Army.
Meanwhile, UCLA has built a repertoire of matchups against potential Final Four contenders. The Bruins have four ranked games under their belt, including their sole loss to now-No. 2 Texas.
Senior guard Gabriela Jaquez’s season-high 29 points against the Lady Vols last Sunday earned her spot as the squad’s leading offensive producer, and her team-high offensive rebounds have only further paved the way for that.
[Related: UCLA women’s basketball beats Tennessee in near triple-digit season-high showing]
“Something happened over the summer. Something just clicked in my head of where I want my shooting pocket to be and how I like it to feel,” Jaquez said. “I think that’s the difference right there.”
With every starter for UCLA averaging double-digit scoring, it is hard to argue the team is lacking offensive weapons. Instead, Close said adjusting to different defenses and generating the ball movement necessary to give players the open passing and driving lanes needed to score is a point of growth.
“We really struggled with that against Texas. … We just could not get ball reversal enough to take advantage of how the post was being played,” Close said. “That’s something that we’re going to have to bring, to have to grow through.”
Forwards freshman Sienna Betts and senior Timea Gardiner will remain sidelined Sunday because of a lower leg injury and a knee injury, respectively, Close said Friday.
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