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Hernández: UCLA women prove beyond a doubt they are No. 1 in basketball
The best women’s basketball team in the country plays at Pauley Pavilion.
How else can UCLA be described after its 77-62 destruction of No. 1 South Carolina?
The No. 5 Bruins dominated the defending national champions from the opening tip to the final buzzer in their breakthrough win, the first in program history over a top-ranked opponent.
South Carolina was expected to provide a formidable early-season test for the Bruins, but coach Cori Close’s team showed up at Nell and John Wooden Court with all of the answers.
The answers came in the form of Lauren Betts’ presence and Kiki Rice’s playmaking, Londynn Jones’ shooting and Gabriela Jaquez’s tenacity, Elina Aarnisalo’s creativity and Janiah Barker’s athleticism.
The visiting Gamecocks entered the game with 43 consecutive wins. They won two of the last three NCAA championships. And they had no chance.
Read more: No. 5 UCLA stuns No. 1 South Carolina to reaffirm its national title aims
“We ran into a buzzsaw today,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said.
The Bruins were ahead by 21 points at halftime. With four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, they led by 23.
The result was a signature win for one of women’s basketball’s great ambassadors. In her 14th season as UCLA’s head coach, Close now has a team as grand as her ambitions.
“This is what a media room is supposed to be like!” Close said as she walked into a packed interview room.
Close continued, “This game is about our program and where we’re going but also about the game of basketball. And I just think what we saw over the whole weekend is so important to continue to grow our game.”
The Bruins played in front of an announced crowd of 13,659 fans. The day before, 7,894 fans were at Galen Center for No. 3 USC’s loss to No. 6 Notre Dame.
Staging a showcase event like this was one thing. Winning the game was another.
Seven years ago, UCLA was ranked fifth in the country and hosted No. 1 Connecticut. The game attracted what was the third-largest crowd to ever watch a women’s basketball game at Pauley Pavilion, but the Bruins were blown out.
The program has evolved since then.
The Bruins started to pick up top recruits. They took advantage of the transfer portal. They bolstered their depth.
They now have a team that Close describes as having eight starters.
Less than four minutes into the game on Sunday, Close made her first substitutions. She practically made a line change. Aarnisalo, Timea Gardiner and Angela Dugalic went out. Jones, Jaquez and Barker went in.
The depth permitted the Bruins to apply a degree of defensive pressure that made South Carolina uncomfortable.
The Gamecocks made only one of their first 12 shots.
They were nine-of-34 shooting from the field at half. Sophomore guard Tessa Johnson was five for eight at the time. Everyone else on her team was a combined four for 26.
“They were relentless,” Johnson said.
South Carolina was held to 36.4% shooting in the game.
Close did what she could to place the performance into context.
“It’s November 24th,” she said. “Am I proud of our team? Yes, but this is just the beginning and we just can’t get tired of doing things right.”
Close and her players will now have a chance to do something special. They can win their first NCAA championship. They can also attract a new audience to women’s basketball and not just for high-profile games, such as games against JuJu Watkins and USC.
If UCLA gymnastics can be a big deal, why can’t women’s basketball? Close’s team has its own versions of Katelyn Ohashi and Jordan Chiles.
The Bruins have the most dominant inside presence in Los Angeles outside of Anthony Davis in Betts, who collected 14 rebounds and blocked four shots against South Carolina.
They have a dynamic guard in Rice, who scored 11 points in her first game of the season without a minutes restriction. They have a sparkplug in Jones, who made all five of her threes and scored a game-high 15 points. They have a familiar name in Jaquez, who is continuing a family legacy started by her brother and contributed 11 points as a reserve.
UCLA had all of these players before Sunday, of course. This win just placed everyone on notice.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
