UCLA upsets No. 1, clearing the path to take the spot themselves 

The tricks to UCLA’s systematic dismantling of the Gamecocks on Sunday? Depth, rhythm, and a prepared, balanced offense. 

Of the eight Bruins that played more than one minute, all had usage rates above 15%, but none had a usage rate above 27%. Five Bruins scored in double figures. As a team, they shot 47.5% from the floor, an even higher 47.6% from three (helped by Londynn Jones’ 5-for-5 performance from deep). And while they turned the ball over 17 times, head coach Cori Close noted following the game that the majority of these turnovers were dead ball turnovers, helping them avoid falling into one of South Carolina’s major strengths: running in transition.

 “They score about 27% of their baskets in transition. So the best thing you can do is not have live ball turnovers,” Close told reporters after the game, adding “They never got in a rhythm in transition. So when you automatically take away almost 30% of another team’s offense, we know that if we could force them into running half court offense, we’d have a really good chance. That was really the key: taking care of the ball and taking decent shots, so we could set our defense and go from there.” 

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UCLA looked poised, prepared, and powerful, leaning on Close’s mantra “It begins before it begins,” which she explains to mean “That you’ve got to do the work to prepare, and it starts way before the tip happens.” The game plan was evident. 

Another glaringly obvious missing piece was South Carolina’s lack of dominant post play. While they’ve gotten great contributions from Chloe Kitts and Sania Feagin so far this season, they can’t rely on interior presence they’ve had in years past from players like Kamilla Cardoso and Aaliyah Boston. UCLA’s 6’7 forward Lauren Betts played a whopping 37 minutes, scoring 11 points, pulling down 14 rebounds, and blocking 4 shots. 

“I mean we’re in transition from having a dominant big to not having a dominant big, and figuring out how we can incorporate our bigs [..] So we’ll figure it out. We’ve got to get comfortable with it. Our bigs have to get comfortable with doing it a bit differently,” said South Carolina coach Dawn Staley following the game. She went on to speak to the way that Betts commands attention, not just from her immediate defender, but from the whole team, noting that while Betts shot a solid 62.5% from the floor, it’s “not 79,” referring to her level of efficiency in other matchups so far this season. 

Aside from the usual suspects of UCLA’s offense, Staley specifically called out point guard Elina Aarnisalo, commending her aggression, and saying how much she loves watching the freshman on game film. Aarnisalo provided immediate energy for the Bruins, with Close calling her “very pivotal […] She was commanding the pick and roll. She got to the cup, she had the three, then she made a great pass that led to an assist. E is mature beyond her years. […] The last two games she had 20 assists and one turnover and I thought got our offense in a rhythm.” 

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Handing South Carolina their largest loss since March 2019 (and their first loss in 602 days) was made especially fun by the nearly 14,000 fans that came to see the feat in Pauley Pavilion, punctuating a huge women’s basketball weekend in Los Angeles.

“This game is about our program, and where we’re going but also about the game of basketball,” said Close following the game. And I just think what we saw over the whole weekend is so important to continue to grow our game. […] Dawn Staley has set the tone of what women’s basketball excellence should be over the past several years, and I just have so much respect for her, for her staff, for her global view of the game. And so this obviously means a lot because of the respect we have. That being said, we expected to win.” 

“This is just the beginning, and we just can’t get tired of doing things right.”