As she watched the UCLA women’s basketball team dismantle South Carolina in the national championship game, Donovyn Hunter was struck by more than the lopsided score.
She noticed how the Bruins filled defensive gaps at the right moments. They communicated. They were connected and playing for each other.
“I think I was wanting to chase that,” said Hunter, then a junior guard at TCU, “where a coach and a team is pushing you to a standard of, no matter what the score is, uphold the standard.”
A similar scenario was playing out across the country for another prospective Bruin.
Guard Elina Aarnisalo, who had spent her freshman season at UCLA before transferring to North Carolina, was contemplating a return to Westwood based on her knowledge of coach Cori Close’s ability to extract the best version of every player.
“The standards Coach Cori holds here are huge for me,” Aarnisalo said, “and I just knew they could really help me take that next step in my own game and for my future.”
It was this perpetual pursuit of excellence, perhaps more than the Bruins’ first NCAA title itself, that helped Close reload her roster after losing her top six players to the WNBA.
By the time the recruiting job was finished, the Bruins had added five transfers and two freshmen to go with their five returners, all drawn by the same lure.
“We have a very proven road map,” Close said, “that is easy for a group of people to buy into.”
Given that the returning players are stepping into expanded roles — those who produced every point for UCLA in the championship game are gone — Close has likened this to an entirely new team writing its own story.
Perhaps no one has more blank pages to fill than Sienna Betts. The sophomore forward is fully emerging from the shadow of older sister Lauren, who’s now with the Washington Mystics after establishing herself as one of the best players in UCLA history.
“I’m going to have way more opportunities to be able to have the ball more in my hands and have the opportunity to go and face up and go to the basket,” Sienna said, “so I’m excited to have more games where I can just go.”
Joining Betts in the frontcourt will be senior forward Timea Gardiner, who is returning from a knee injury that forced her to miss all of last season. In what seems like an unfortunate annual ritual for the Bruins, they lost another player for the season when promising forward Lena Bilic went down in early October with her own knee injury.
“The initial blow was hard,” Close said, “but our team has recommitted to how we’re going to move forward together, and we’re going to care for Lena really well in the process.”
Close identified Gardiner and guard KK Bransford, a transfer from Notre Dame, as the best at upholding her standard when it comes to expressing the hard things that need to be said. That leadership, along with her assertiveness and high basketball IQ, may have earned Bransford a starting spot in the backcourt.
“We’re just different,” Close said, “when she’s out there.”
Close identified shooting and spacing as strengths that should lead to quality paint touches, open driving lanes and an ability to play inside-out. Aarnisalo will be the primary distributor for the No. 11 Bruins, who open their season on Monday against Lehigh at Pauley Pavilion.
The team will hold its championship ring ceremony and banner raising before it faces Princeton on Nov. 15, with several players from the title team expected to attend to receive their rings.
As part of their blank slate, the Bruins selected three new core values: protecting their inner circle, open accountability and relentless grit.
They’ve gone about fulfilling that mission so well that Close recently overheard her mother, Patti, telling someone how much her daughter loved coaching this group.
“One of the reasons I’m really loving them,” Close said, “is that they’re like, we are here because we want championship standards, we are here because we hear you work harder than anyone in the country, we are here because we want to be held to those standards, and that’s been a blast.”
The Bruins like to say they’re repeating a process while surrendering the outcome to fate.
Then again, no one will complain if that outcome is the same.
While few seem to be picking UCLA to repeat — the Bruins received no first-place votes in either the Associated Press or Coaches polls — maybe that will only help to reinforce the standards.
“I do think we’re a little bit overlooked,” Close said, “but the only thing that does the talking is just go win and the rest will take care of itself.”
UCLA BUZZER BEATERS
NEWCOMER TO WATCH
Elina Aarnisalo. It might seem misleading to call Aarnisalo a newcomer since she spent her freshman season in Westwood, though she’s certainly new to this team after playing her sophomore year at North Carolina. Realizing there was something finer, the talented guard traded one shade of blue for another a second time and returned to UCLA. She appears more confident and assertive now.
MOST IMPORTANT DECISION
Who gets the final starting spot? After Arkansas transfer Bonnie Deas started in the first exhibition, Notre Dame transfer KK Bransford got the nod in the second one. Coach Cori Close lauded Bransford’s aggressiveness, leadership, basketball IQ and confidence, saying “it just oozes out of her.” Another candidate to start by season’s end could be freshman guard Somto Okafor, the Spanish sensation whom Close labeled probably the team’s biggest surprise.
GOOD DAYS TO COME
There’s a path to a third consecutive Final Four for the Bruins considering the talent on this roster. Sienna Betts and Timea Gardiner should form one of the nation’s top frontcourts, and Aarnisalo’s return provides a comforting presence for fans wanting another reminder of this program’s recent success.
FINDING HER FOOTING
Joining her third team in four years might require a transition period for Donovyn Hunter, who was relatively quiet in the Bruins’ two exhibition games. But the senior guard should be an important contributor given her ability to impact the game in so many ways. Reuniting with Gardiner, Hunter’s onetime teammate at Oregon State, should also pay immediate dividends in improving her comfort level.
DON’T BE SURPRISED IF …
Sienna Betts emerges as a dominant post player from the season’s opening tip. With as much playing time as she can handle now on the table, the younger Betts sister should quickly establish herself as the team’s go-to force. Double-doubles should become routine for the sophomore forward.
STORY THAT WON’T GO AWAY
Cori Close’s possible interest in the WNBA. The winningest coach in UCLA women’s basketball history has acknowledged the possibility of burnout in the college game, adding an executive coach to help manage her workload. Close’s new four-year, $8.0375 million contract includes a buyout reduced by 25% should she depart to become a head coach in the WNBA. Speculation will likely continue to swirl.
THREE BOLD PREDICTIONS
1. UCLA gets a Final Four three-peat. With the benefit of two home games to start the NCAA Tournament, the Bruins roll into the Sweet 16 and win two more games — in far tougher conditions — to notch their third consecutive appearance in the Final Four.
2. The Bruins beat USC at home. With a record crowd packing Pauley Pavilion, UCLA upsets the top-ranked Trojans behind a huge game from Betts, sending fans pouring onto the court in celebration.
3. UCLA plays USC in a national semifinal. This is the game everybody’s been waiting for, with the crosstown rivals meeting on the game’s biggest stage in Columbus, Ohio. It’s a ratings bonanza for the LA TV market, cultivating a new generation of women’s basketball fans.
FIVE GAMES TO WATCH
NOV. 15 VS. PRINCETON: There will be smiles aplenty — and maybe a few tears — as the Bruins raise their first NCAA championship banner.
NOV. 22 AT TENNESSEE: The Volunteers are always a good barometer of whether your team is a national title contender.
DEC. 19 VS. SOUTH CAROLINA: Everyone knows the Gamecocks will be eager for payback after Bruins walloped them in title game.
DEC. 20 VS. TEXAS: This will let Bruins know how much they’ve improved since Longhorns beat them by 17 in an exhibition.
FEB. 7 VS. USC: The Bruins will try to sustain recent rivalry supremacy amid the return of Trojans superstar JuJu Watkins.
THE POST’S FORECAST
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The Bruins won’t contend for a top seed in the NCAA Tournament but still get to host the first two rounds at home, providing a preferred path back to the event’s second weekend.
