UCLA women looking for a deeper NCAA tournament run this season
The UCLA women’s basketball team was in the closing minutes of their practice on Tuesday when a loose ball was making its way out of bounds. Rather than let the play go dead, Londynn Jones dived for it, launching herself headfirst into the empty chairs on the sideline.
For Angela Dugalić, the kind of tone that Jones set by diving for that ball in a preseason scrimmage is exactly what the 2024-25 Bruins need to be about.
“Londynn’s just a dawg,” Dugalić said. “When I see her dive into the bleachers, that makes me want to do the same. I know she’s willing to sacrifice herself just to get a loose ball. In reality that doesn’t seem like a lot, but in that moment it’s like the biggest thing for us because every possession matters. She knows that.”
The Bruins have nine new players this season, six transfers and three freshmen, and should be better at scoring, rebounding and defending with new cast.
It’s that edge that can be the difference come March, when UCLA has been eliminated in the Sweet 16 in back-to-back years, something Gabriela Jaquez is all too familiar with.
“I remember how I felt after the game,” Jaquez said. “I think going into this season, remembering that, how you felt and how you don’t want to feel again — losing like that — is just really important. When you come into practice, just trying to get better so you can be prepared for March.”
This year’s UCLA squad is younger, featuring four freshmen and seven total newcomers, but the expectations remain the same even in a new conference. They’re the No. 2-ranked team in the Big Ten preseason media poll, and are ranked fifth nationally. Two players, Kiki Rice and Lauren Betts, were named to both the coaches and media Preseason All-Big Ten teams.
There’s no time to wait for the new faces to adjust, so Jaquez and the rest of the returners have made it a point to get everybody on the same page.
“It starts in practice, in the film room, in the weight room, how we do things here,” she said. “It’s really difficult playing two years, making it to the Sweet 16, haven’t been farther than that, so I hope this year we can change that and obviously having more experience is going to be very helpful, along with our team. We’re majority upperclassmen, so just all of us leading the freshmen, leading everyone to that will be really important.”
Dugalić is also bringing back some valuable experience for her team, having represented Serbia in the 2024 Paris Olympics. She spent the summer with the national team, learning and adjusting to a more physical style of play from her older teammates and coaches.
The Olympic experience, Dugalić said, helped her mature as a player and as a person, which has been valuable as she’s still actively trying to find her role on this team after coming off of a season in which she posted career highs in points, rebounds and assists while starting 29 of 30 games.
UCLA says a string of close losses puts them on a more difficult NCAA tournament path. The Bruins are pushing to come back stronger next season.
“I just take it day by day, honestly. There’s always highs and lows,” Dugalić said. “Every day [my role] sort of changes because one day Gabs [Jaquez] can have 20 points, the next day Kiki [Rice[ will, the next day I will, so it just always constantly moves. I’ll literally do anything just to win and just to make my teammates better and myself better.”
Dugalić gets to return to Paris as the Bruins open their season in the Aflac Oui-Play doubleheader against Louisville on Monday. It will be the first time the women’s basketball team plays their season opener on international soil, indicative of just how much the sport has boomed.
“There’s a lot of momentum from a lot of different angles,” said UCLA coach Cori Close, now in her 14th season. “Record viewing numbers, record corporate sponsorship, record attendance, and then that continuing on to the WNBA season and every record being broken there. And now coming in, having two top-five teams in Los Angeles, having a chance to do something. …
“There’s just so many reasons to be excited about women’s basketball. It’s not a matter of, ‘Hey, come help us build it,’ no, we’re here. And you better not miss out.”
Go beyond the scoreboard
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