LOS ANGELES – Have you watched Gabriela Jaquez do her thing yet this season?
No, it doesn’t count if you watched her compete and contribute on UCLA’s run to the NCAA Women’s Final Four last season.
I’m asking: Have you watched her this season?
Because there are levels to this, and the 6-foot senior guard-ish out of Camarillo has leveled up like she’s unlocked a cheat code – and maybe she has, because whatever “clicked” this summer has her shooting 48.6% from 3-point range.
She’s getting next-level attention from WNBA scouts for it too, Bruins coach Cori Close said: “I’m definitely getting a lot of calls, I think she’s gonna have opportunities.”
And if you’re UCLA and you want badly to level up, to not only get back to the Final Four but advance one round further, to play in the championship game for all the marbles, then Jaquez’s ascension is more than a bonus – it’s imperative.
The Lauren Betts Show was a massive hit last spring, clearly. But she’s not going to win a national championship by herself; she needs her teammates to keep opponents honest – better yet, to truly command opponents’ attention.
To make them pay if they don’t give enough of it, like Jaquez did Sunday when the No. 3 Bruins ran away from No. 14 Tennessee 99-77 at Pauley Pavilion on Sunday afternoon.
Jaquez led UCLA (8-1) with 29 points in 32 minutes, draining five of her 6 3-point attempts, finished 10 for 14 from the field. She also had three assists and two steals, three rebounds and just one turnover in a typically active showing – her aggressive, right-place, right-time instincts now complemented dangerously by her enhanced skillset.
“I mean, we didn’t not guard her on purpose,” said coach Kim Caldwell, whose Volunteers (5-2) couldn’t keep up with Jaquez’s nonstop motion – or UCLA’s crisp ball movement, the swing passes that led to too-open looks for this sudden sharpshooter.
Added Caldwell: “Such an underrated player.”
Yeah, for now. But the word’s going to get out on this improved version of Jaquez – yes, former Bruins men’s star and current Miami Heat forward Jaime is her brother – who arrived at UCLA as an under-recruited and undersized post player.
Since then, Gabriela has steadily, and with impressive intentionality, built her game into something that could Close thinks could portend a long professional runway.
“She came in here as an undersized post player who hardly had any Power 5 [offers] … going into her senior year,” Close said. “And then what did she do? She became a McDonald’s All-American, she was co-MVP of that McDonald’s game with Kiki.
“And then she came to us, and she just finds warrior ways to contribute and make winning plays. The first year, it looked like cutting and running the fast break and playing the 4 for us, just doing all the dirty work.
“And then each year, you’ve seen her add to her toolbox.”
What that meant this summer, when she and many of her teammates still were smarting from being blown out by Connecticut in the national semifinal, was that she worked on her shot. That she worked on it a lot.
So that she – and newcomer Gianna Kneepkens, a career 43.2% shooter in four seasons at Utah – will be able to spread out defenses, make opponents decide whether they would rather give Betts more room to operate or let the Bruins bomb away from behind the arc unimpeded.
Tough choices, made possible by Jaquez’s decision to commit wholeheartedly to her craft.
“A lot of help from my coaches and a lot of reps,” said Jaquez, who shot 34.8% from deep last season as a junior and, before that, 25.9% as a sophomore.
“Something happened over the summer,” she said. “Something just kind of clicked in my head about where I want my shooting pocket to be and how I like it to feel. And I think that’s the difference right there – but it starts with a lot of reps.”
Her shot is much more precise, but it’s not just that. Jaquez is stronger, more fluid and faster – both in terms of the way she’s moving and the way she’s reading the game, from wherever on the floor UCLA needs her dancing.
I asked UCLA guard Kiki Rice if she had a favorite part of her pal’s multi-functional game, and Rice said she loves that Jaquez “loves playing a lot of positions.”
“This summer and preseason, Gabs was playing a lot of guard,” Rice said. “But now with [freshman center] Sienna [Betts] out, she’s totally been able to seamlessly shift to the 4 [power forward] position, and she’s playing a ton of minutes there. So for her to be able to do that and just move across the board for us, it’s just so useful.”
Moving like a queen, shooting like a star, competing like a Jaquez, and always leveling up.