LOS ANGELES — UCLA senior forward Addy Brown appears to be feeling comfortable in her new home after a strong shooting night in a 76-44 victory over Arizona on Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion.
Brown, an Iowa State transfer, led UCLA with 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists to complement sophomore center Sienna Betts (11 points, 10 rebounds, three blocked shots) and senior Timea Gardiner (16 points).
Brown put together a strong effort in her third game. The Derby, Kansas native showed off her post moves and her ability from the perimeter, shooting 6 for 13 overall and 3 for 5 from 3-point range in 23 minutes off the bench.
“From the day I stepped on campus everyone was welcoming and ready to work right away,” Brown said. “Coach Cori (Close) brings the energy every single day which I love. There’s no days off and I love that. The group as a whole did a really good job of making me feel welcomed and pushing me to be the best version of myself and I feel like I’m not even there yet. We are laying the brick each game one game at a time.”
UCLA (3-0) is establishing its identity as a hard-nosed defensive team after holding Arizona to 24.1% shooting, including 18.1% from 3-point range. No player scored in double figures for the Wildcats (2-1).
The 10th-ranked Bruins led by 13 points at halftime, but Sumaya Sugapong hit a 3-pointer and Gerda Raulusaityte followed with a layup 48 seconds into the second half that cut the margin to 37-29
Brown had a three-point play and made a 3-pointer as part of a 16-2 run that closed the third quarter and gave UCLA a 62-39 lead going into the fourth.
Notre Dame transfer KK Bransford finished with 13 points for UCLA, which turned 16 Arizona turnovers in 26 points and enjoyed a 38-20 scoring advantage in the paint. Freshman guard Somto Okafor made her first start in place of junior transfer guard Elina Aarnisalo, finishing with 10 points and five rebounds.
“Somto has a super power and it’s that she only understands about every other word I’m saying,” UCLA Cori Close said. “She’s not distracted by all the craziness I’m bringing to the table. I absolutely adore her. I think she’s going to be a great player here. I was talking about before the game. I told her we need to fortify what we need to build on. I asked her if she knew what fortify means? And shook her head. Everyone on the team loves Somto. She wants to be great. There’s a spirit about her. She’s driven and loving all the skill development and loving her teammates.”
Aarnisalo is currently playing for Finland’s national team with a pair of games against Lithuania. Aarnisalo will miss the 2026 national championship banner unveiling on Sunday when UCLA hosts Princeton at 3 p.m.
The Bruins were without sophomore Christina Karamouzi for the third straight game who is rehabbing a hip injury while sophomore guard Lena Bilic is out for the season with a torn ACL.
Brown was working on her midrange and contested face up shooting with assistant coach James Clark one hour before tipoff. She came into Thursday’s game averaging 7.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game after she averaged 11.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists playing alongside second-team All-American Audi Crooks last season.
“(Clark) is my guy and we connected right away,” Brown said. “Coming in that’s the coach I spend the most time with whether that’s watching film or working after practice. One of the things I was looking forward to was player development and I feel like I really get pushed well in that area. He’s one of the best in that area. That’s really his craft. I really love working out with him and he’s really detailed. He gives me confidence every single day and that’s one of his superpowers is giving to us.”
Close used a rotation of 6-foot-4 Betts, 6-3 Gardiner and 6-2 Brown to test their skillsets, with Betts closer to the post, Gardiner positioned around the elbow and Brown at the perimeter on offense.
“That was one of the new lineups Coach Cori was talking about that I got to try out tonight,” Brown said. “It was a good one. With Sienna inside the defense has to help out and pay lots of attention to her which opens up Timea from the outside. I think that triangle of the three of us worked really well and just excited to continue to have that in our next games and it was a lot of fun.
Gardiner echoed how successful the trifecta with Brown and Betts could become as they play more together.
“It’s versatility,” Gardiner said. “I believe we all play very well off of each other. We all have very high IQs and it makes it super hard to guard.”
The next step for UCLA is finding more fluidity in its offense. UCLA entered Thursday ranked 80th in the country in field goal percentage (46.2%). The Bruins shot 41.6% against Arizona and committed just eight turnovers.
Arizona was led by Aliyahna Morris and Makayla Presser-Palmer, who each scored eight points.