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.
asserted
Hunter → watch → score
She noticed how the Bruins filled defensive gaps at the right moments.
asserted
Bruins → notice → moments
They communicated.
asserted
They → communicate → ?
They were connected and playing for each other.
asserted
They → connect → 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.”
asserted
score → think → standard
A similar scenario was playing out across the country for another prospective Bruin.
asserted
scenario → play → 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.
asserted
who → spend → 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.”
uncertain
me → hold → 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.
asserted
Close → help → 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.
asserted
all → finish → lure
“We have a very proven road map,” Close said, “that is easy for a group of people to buy into.”
asserted
group → prove → people
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.
asserted
Close → give → story
Perhaps no one has more blank pages to fill than Sienna Betts.
asserted
one → have → 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.
asserted
who → emerge → 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.”
asserted
I → go → games
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.
asserted
that → join → 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.
asserted
Bilic → seem → 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.”
asserted
we → say → 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.
asserted
that → identify → things
That leadership, along with her assertiveness and high basketball IQ, may have earned Bransford a starting spot in the backcourt.
uncertain
leadership → earn → backcourt
“We’re just different,” Close said, “when she’s out there.”
asserted
she → ’re → ?
Close identified shooting and spacing as strengths that should lead to quality paint touches, open driving lanes and an ability to play inside-out.
asserted
that → identify → touches
Aarnisalo will be the primary distributor for the No. 11 Bruins, who open their season on Monday against Lehigh at Pauley Pavilion.
asserted
who → open → 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.
asserted
players → hold → rings
As part of their blank slate, the Bruins selected three new core values: protecting their inner circle, open accountability and relentless grit.
asserted
Bruins → select → circle
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.
asserted
daughter → go → 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.”
asserted
that → love → standards
The Bruins like to say they’re repeating a process while surrendering the outcome to fate.
asserted
they → like → fate
Then again, no one will complain if that outcome is the same.
asserted
outcome → complain → ?
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.”
asserted
rest → seem → itself
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.
uncertain
she → seem → Carolina
Realizing there was something finer, the talented guard traded one shade of blue for another a second time and returned to UCLA.
asserted
guard → realize → UCLA
She appears more confident and assertive now.
asserted
She → appear → ?
MOST IMPORTANT DECISION
Who gets the final starting spot?
asserted
Who → get → spot
After Arkansas transfer Bonnie Deas started in the first exhibition, Notre Dame transfer KK Bransford got the nod in the second one.
asserted
Bransford → start → one
Coach Cori Close lauded Bransford’s aggressiveness, leadership, basketball IQ and confidence, saying “it just oozes out of her.”
asserted
it → laud → 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.
uncertain
Close → start → whom
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.
asserted
return → form → 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.
uncertain
who → find → games
But the senior guard should be an important contributor given her ability to impact the game in so many ways.
asserted
guard → give → ways
…and 19 more, not listed.
The Aporia
