Breaking records became a habit for the Bruins last season.
First 12-week streak atop the AP Poll by a Big Ten team. First No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament in program history.
So it only seemed fitting that the Bruins would end their historic campaign by signing their name in another record book.
Only, it was a record they did not want to break.
UCLA women’s basketball’s 34-point loss to UConn in the Final Four last March was the largest deficit in an NCAA tournament semifinal in women’s basketball history.
The Huskies made a Bruin squad – one that had earned the national spotlight after comfortably beating the then-reigning national champion South Carolina the November prior – look disjointed.
Not only did starters and then-junior guards Gabriela Jaquez and Londynn Jones – the latter of whom has since transferred to USC – finish with zero points, but UCLA logged more turnovers than assists in a game that was, quite frankly, painful to watch.
The Bruins return to the NCAA tournament this year as a No. 1 seed once again, although the Huskies – who have remained undefeated since beating the Westwood squad en route to a national title – heard their name called first this time around.
As UCLA enters March Madness once again, the question of whether they can achieve what proved out of reach last season looms.
And the short answer is yes – the Bruins have all the makings of a national championship squad this time around.
The most obvious indicator lies in the Bruins’ bolstered starting lineup. The additions of graduate student guards Gianna Kneepkens, who transferred from Utah, and Charlisse Leger-Walker, who debuted in Westwood after spending the last campaign recovering from an ACL tear, underscores the revamped starting five.
Kneepkens has filled the role of UCLA’s most prolific 3-point shooter previously held by Jones. The Duluth, Minnesota, local has taken the job to new heights, though, and is an invaluable asset as the ninth-best shooter from deep in the nation.
Her proficiency on the perimeter does not come at the expense of her ability to get downhill, and starting in the power forward position, she is just as much of a threat driving to the basket as she is on the perimeter.
Leger-Walker joined UCLA this campaign after last playing at Washington State during the 2023-24 season, where she was one of the most elite shooters in program history, finishing her career with 1,743 points and three triple-doubles in a senior season cut short by injury. She has not replicated the same offensive production at UCLA, instead taking on a facilitating role as the team’s assist leader – her no-look behind-the-back pass certainly deserves recognition.
The ability to forgo offensive stardom for a less recognized role exemplifies Leger-Walker’s understanding of the selfless attitude embraced by a UCLA squad that values team over the individual, as preached by coach Cori Close time and time again.
Rounding out the starting lineup is a senior trio that Bruin fans have come to know and love: center Lauren Betts and guards Kiki Rice and Jaquez.
Betts’ talent is, of course, no secret, and her continued consistency – excluding a dry spell at the beginning of the season – in the paint and on the boards earned her UCLA’s first Big Ten Player of the Year honor. But then again, Betts’ game-high 26-point performance was not the issue against UConn in last year’s Final Four.
Rice and Jaquez have sat on the edge of being 50-40-90 players for most of the season, with Jaquez even leading the nation in 3-point shooting at one point. The two are consistent anchors of the Bruins’ offensive and defensive efforts, and as one-stop Westwood athletes, their long-term commitment to the team is unparalleled. This year they, boast the experience of a previous trip to understand the pressure of the national stage.
To understand the scope of the talent in the Bruins’ starting lineup alone, it is imperative to recognize just how unprecedented the group is. The last time a team had four players drafted in the first round of the same WNBA draft was UConn in 2002.
The national championship-winning Husky team headlined by Sue Bird went No. 1, No. 2, No. 4, and No. 6, respectively. The Bruins are projected to do just that and potentially more – four of their five starters are tabbed as first round picks come April, with Leger-Walker listed as the first pick of the second round, per CBS Sports.
That is all without mentioning graduate student forward Angela Dugalić, whose label as a bench player is almost comical, considering she could start for almost any team in the nation with her 51.4% shooting clip and nine points averaged across 23.4 minutes per game.
Her consistency and creative vision on the court – albeit sometimes manifested in overzealous passes – is arguably underrepresented in her current draft stock, which places her as a potential later-round pick.
UCLA’s bench also features freshmen forward Sienna Betts and guard Lena Bilić, whose comfort on the court as rookies gives the starting lineup the necessary reprieve to maintain a full game run. Sienna Betts has steadily come back from an early season lower leg injury, recording eight points across the first four minutes she played in the Bruins’ last game, and proves to be one of the team’s best rebounders-per-minute played in recent contests.
The odds are that UCLA’s now-deeper roster will face UConn once again as both teams contend to be the last team dancing – this time in the national championship game. While the Huskies’ status as the only undefeated team in the nation for much of the season cemented their steadfast No. 1 ranking, a relatively weak strength of schedule – ranked No. 58 in the nation compared to the Bruins’ No. 1 slate – could prove to be their Achilles’ heel.
Both teams’ closest wins have been 3-point victories over Michigan. But UCLA’s maize and blue scare feels firmly in the rearview after it asserted its dominance over Big Ten competition at the conference tournament March 6-8.
In their last game before NCAA tournament play, the Bruins once again broke records.
Largest victory margin in a Big Ten tournament championship in conference history. Largest win over a top-10 team in D1 history.
UCLA’s 51-point showing over Iowa – which earned it three No. 1 votes in the final AP Poll – made a statement.
The Bruins are ready to bring a national title to Westwood.
Comments are closed.