It is never easy to bid farewell to a senior class.
But the goodbye may feel heavier when that class comprises an entire starting lineup with six players projected across WNBA Draft boards.
No. 2 UCLA women’s basketball (27-1, 17-0 Big Ten) held Senior Night on Feb. 22, honoring the impact all six of its graduating athletes have had on the program and its legacy.
“The reality is this is one of the best teams in UCLA history, no question,” said coach Cori Close. “And they have done some things in our current landscape that haven’t been done before.”
Each senior has made their mark, regardless of their path to Westwood.
That path was the shortest for senior guards Gabriela Jaquez and Kiki Rice. The duo was part of the program’s second-ever No. 1 recruiting class in the nation, per ESPN.
Even in the era of Name, Image and Likeness, which has ushered a wave of transfers nationwide, the pair has stuck with UCLA for their entire collegiate careers.
“Super proud of everyone on this team for really putting in the work,” Jaquez said Feb. 22, when the squad clinched the first outright regular season Big Ten championship in program history. “Obviously, me and Kiki came here in our freshman year and it’s just been amazing to see the program grow since then.”
The duo has elevated its game across its four-year tenure. Jaquez has started in all 28 contests this season, averaging a career-high 14.1 points per game while shooting 54.7% from the field and 40.6% from beyond the arc. Rice has notched a career-high 15.3 points per game, adding 6.3 rebounds per contest and 124 total assists – all good for second most on the squad.
Another senior class headliner is center Lauren Betts, who has spent the majority of her collegiate career in Westwood after transferring from Stanford following her freshman campaign.
Betts has dominated on both ends of the floor as a Bruin. She became UCLA’s first-ever Naismith Defensive Player of the Year selection and leads the squad in blocks, total rebounds and points. Last season, she etched her name in history as the first Bruin to record more than 600 points, 300 rebounds and 100 blocks in a single campaign – production she has mirrored this year as the anchor of the team’s interior.
Betts’ accomplishments have placed her in contention to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft. But she said her time at UCLA has meant more than just on-court results.
“Playing for coach Cori has been definitely transformational in my basketball career, and I’m forever grateful for her,” Betts said. “I really wouldn’t be the player or person I am without her. She’s changed how I view basketball, how I view life.”
Graduate student guards Gianna Kneepkens and Charlisse Leger-Walker further strengthen the graduating crew. Although Kneepkens only joined UCLA this season, the Utah transfer earned herself a spot in the starting lineup and has averaged 13.2 points per game while shooting a team-best 45.9% from the 3-point line. Leger-Walker arrived from Washington State last season but redshirted her fifth season as she recovered from an ACL tear. The Waikato, New Zealand, local leads the Bruins with 46 steals and 159 assists.
The group is rounded out by graduate student forward Angela Ducalić, who has played in all 28 contests this season, has averaged a career-high 9.1 points per game and has brought Serbian National Team experience to the roster.
But Close said the team’s on-court performance takes a backseat to its off-the-court connection.
“They have been courageously vulnerable to connect in a way that makes them totally responsible and accountable to each other,” Close said. “And that’s really powerful. Some people go their whole lives without getting to experience something like that. … They (the seniors) have set a bar for the culture of our program that we will forever be measuring it against.”
The squad’s most recent Big Ten regular-season championship is just one milestone in a growing list of historic achievements, following last season’s program-first Final Four appearance.
And the Bruins aren’t just making school history – they are looking toward a place in the conference record books. Only two Big Ten teams have captured the regular-season title with an unblemished conference record in the past 40 years.
One regular-season matchup remains against USC on Sunday. The last meeting between the crosstown rivals ended with a 34-point UCLA victory.
Still, Close said the most important milestone will come to life once the senior crew hangs up their blue and gold jerseys for good.
“In the end, banners hang in gyms and rings collect dust,” Close said. “But you get to keep who you become and who you impact forever.”
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