March 24, 2025
Gardiner brings her deep NCAA experience to UCLA
Gardiner's play and leadership off the bench is key to Bruins' success as they get deeper into the NCAA Tournament
LOS ANGELES, Ca — A year ago, Timea Gardiner was wearing a different uniform, but the path was the same as the one she is on now.
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The UCLA junior forward from Ogden, Utah, who transferred from Oregon State last season, is back in the regional round of the NCAA Tournament. She’s heading up the Bruins’ reinforcements off the bench as they move to Spokane to the Sweet 16 for the third straight season to take on No. 5 seed Ole Miss on Friday at Spokane Arena.
As the Bruins look to make an NCAA championship run, the minutes of an experienced perimeter threat whose ability to shoot from beyond the arc will space the floor for All-American Lauren Betts will be nothing short of critical.
“It’s so valuable to us,” said UCLA head coach Cori Close after Gardiner scored 11 big points off the bench Sunday night in the Bruins’ 84-67 second-round win over Richmond. That victory clinched the Bruins’ a Sweet 16 ticket for the second year in a row. “I have told her, ‘I am relying on you.’”
Last year, the Bruins bowed out in the regional semifinal. Gardiner, then with OSU, did not.
Gardiner reached the Elite Eight last season with Oregon State, was named Pac-12 Sixth Player of the Year, and then was one of eight players to transfer out at the end of the run. She was part of a painful exodus for the Oregon State program, which was moving to the West Coast Conference after the breakup of the Pac-12.
Gardiner is one of five players from that team to find their way back to the NCAA Tournament with their new teams. She is joined by Raegan Beers, at Oklahoma; Talia Von Oelhoffen, at USC; Donovyn Hunter, at TCU, and Lily Hansford, at Iowa State. Dominika Paurova transferred to Kentucky but missed this season with a leg injury.
Gardiner said she is happy to see her former teammates find places where they are thriving.
“It feels like such a short time ago,” Gardiner said. “It feels different for sure. But it’s the same goal and the same mentality of winning it all.”
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Gardiner was the highest-rated player ever to commit to Oregon State — she was rated as the No. 6 recruit in the nation in the class of 2022, a class that included her Bruins teammates Lauren Betts and Kiki Rice. The first year of her career was a challenge, as an on-campus scooter accident led to a diagnosis of blood clots in her lungs that kept her out the first three months of her college career.
But she is on track again in Westwood, and playing the role she did so well in at Oregon State. Gardiner minutes are critical for UCLA. She is scoring 7.7 points and pulling down 3.6 rebounds with 55 3-pointers on the team, ranking her second, behind guard Londynn Jones.
“It’s just about staying ready,” Gardiner said. “Get your reps in, and make sure you are ready when your number is called. You have to be ready to step up and hit shots. When your teammates find you, they make it easy.”
In the Bruins’ NCAA opener against Southern, Gardiner was 3 of 6 from beyond the arc. Against Richmond on Sunday, she was 3 of 6 and 4 of 7 overall, with a pair of blocked shots as well. She gives the Bruins versatility and depth inside, and a maturity they will need as this tournament runs deeper.
“She has a calm about her that we rely on in big moments,” Close said. “And she has the attention of her teammates and I’m already grooming her for leadership in these games.”
Gardiner knows that her calmness is part of her role in the Bruins’ quest for a first-ever Final Four berth, and beyond that, an NCAA title.
“Using my voice, communicating, constantly talking and being a glue player for us,” Gardiner said. “I try to be a steady presence and I feel like it’s working.”
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Written by Michelle Smith
Michelle Smith has covered women’s basketball nationally for more than three decades. A 2024 inductee into the U.S. Basketball Writer’s Hall of Fame, Smith has worked for ESPN.com, The Athletic, the San Francisco Chronicle, as well as Pac-12.com and WNBA.com. She is the 2017 recipient of the Jake Wade Media Award from the Collegiate Sports Information Directors Association (CoSIDA) and was named the Mel Greenberg Media Award winner by the WBCA in 2019.
