PHOENIX — It was fitting that in the biggest game of UCLA’s season, Gabriela Jaquez shined brightest. Jaquez is the lone player on the Bruins’ roster from the greater Los Angeles area, which has been a hotbed of basketball talent.
She starred at Camarillo High School just like her older brother, Jaime, who also went on to play at UCLA. Winning a national championship is a major accomplishment for any player, but for Jaquez, Sunday’s triumph over South Carolina had added significance.
“It means everything. I want to really thank the fans of Southern California that really support me. … They always come to the games at Pauley [Pavilion],” Jaquez told reporters postgame. “They tell me that I’m representing them well. It really does mean everything. It was just really important to stay close to home because I just love my family so much. But I think it really meant a lot to the local people who could watch me and support me.”
Against South Carolina, Jaquez was aggressive from the start. If there was one play that summed up her impact, it was early in the first quarter after she rebounded a missed shot from forward Angela Dugalic. Jaquez swooped in from out of the picture, grabbed the ball, flipped it into the basket and drew a foul in the process. She completed the 3-point play at the free-throw line, and that was a harbinger of things to come.
South Carolina was unable to match her intensity. She scored a game-high 21 points, yanked down 10 rebounds, dished out five assists and came up with a steal. She made things difficult defensively as the initial defender on Gamecocks star Joyce Edwards and generally caused havoc with her length. South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley admitted how tough she is to prepare for.
”Hard matchup. You come into a game, you know exactly what she’s going to do and she does it,” Staley told reporters postgame. “She’s relentless. She’s a relentless rebounder. … [She brings] just championship-type behavior and intangibles that’s needed in order for you to win. If you don’t … prioritize her on the court, she’s going to make you pay. She did that against us.”
Jaquez’s performance, which landed her on the All-Tournament team, was nothing new for her teammates. They’ve seen it every day in practice. They’ve seen it in games leading up to this point, during Big Ten play and the NCAA Tournament. She does whatever is necessary to help the Bruins win — so much so that she is the winningest player in UCLA history.
She’s become synonymous with UCLA basketball and the type of culture that head coach Cori Close has built. For Bruins star Lauren Betts, Jaquez is everything that’s right about the program.
”I’ve never met someone who represents UCLA as amazing as Gabs does,” Betts told reporters after the game. “She bleeds blue. We always say she’s a true Bruin. She loves this team and she loves this program, and she’ll do anything to get us to where we want to be. To play in the national championship game, I’m not surprised that she went off and was everywhere because it means so much to her.”
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As ready as Jaquez was in the championship game, she had to take a bit of a step back and breathe in the day leading up to it. After UCLA’s win against Texas that propelled it to the national championship game, she could feel how close the team was and couldn’t contain her excitement.
But Close has preached all season about taking it one game at a time, and with each Bruins win in the tournament, she’s likened it to being 1-0. In each round, she’s emphasized having another chance at going 1-0. Jaquez reached back to that mentality and prepared like she did for any other game.
”Just wanting to win, honestly. That was really it. Trying to just calm myself down. I was so amped up; I was so excited,” Jaquez said. “Once we won the game in the Final Four, I was getting emotional after. … I just really had to calm myself down, just going into this game knowing it’s just another game that I’ve prepared well and just let my work speak for itself.”
The work has definitely spoken throughout the season. Earlier in the year, Close simply referred to Jaquez as a basketball player, refusing to label her with a specific position. She’s played in the post when she’s had an advantage. She’s played point guard and been a playmaker when games have called for it. She’s worked on her shooting to be a consistent catch-and-shoot threat.
She averaged a career-high 13.3 points per game this season. She shot career bests from the field (53.8%) and from the 3-point line (38.7%). She’s a do-it-all player whose teammates enjoy sharing the court with her.
After the game, Dugalic couldn’t hide her excitement about being alongside her. Dugalic joined the Bruins a year before Jaquez did, and she told reporters that she’s enjoyed watching Jaquez’s growth and development.
“I fucking love Gabs,” Dugalic exclaimed. “When you think of UCLA and of the UCLA Bruins, you think of Gabriela Jaquez. She is the heart of this team. She bleeds blue and gold.
“Just to see her grow during these four years of coming off the bench her freshman year, her second year going back and forth — every single year, she’s done really great things. This year, it’s been just so fun to watch her be who she is on the court.”
Point guard Charlisse Leger-Walker echoed that sentiment. This was the lone season Leger-Walker got to play with Jaquez. For her, Sunday’s performance was perfect summary of Jaquez’s importance to the team.
”That’s who Gabs is. She is gonna go out there and do anything she can to help this team win. She just bleeds UCLA blue through and through,” Leger-Walker told reporters postgame. “She was impacting on so many different areas on the court, and that’s who she is. That’s who she’s been all year, and I’m so proud of the way she came out and played.”
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When the buzzer sounded and the confetti fell, Jaquez couldn’t help but show her emotion. Tears of joy fell, and she began to embrace her teammates. For her, it was a culmination of all the work she had put in.
The work began last year, after the Bruins lost in embarrassing fashion to the UConn Huskies in the Final Four. That feeling lingered in Jaquez’s mind all summer long and helped fuel her performance.
”I’ve never wanted something more. I just wanted to be a national champion so bad. Last year I got really, really sad after that loss. It really hit me,” Jaquez said.
“I would just say, ‘I just want to be a champion so bad,’ in my bed, literally. And now to be one, I’m just so proud and it means everything.”
Looking for more March Madness stories? Read all our NCAA Tournament coverage at The IX Sports.
