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UCLA women take balanced approach into NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight

March 28, 2026

SACRAMENTO — Two pairs of UCLA-colored, star-shaped sunglasses pop out from around a corner near the women’s basketball locker room at Pauley Pavilion.

Senior guard Gabriela Jaquez is wearing both of them, and she’s performing a TikTok-style dance to rapper Lil Uzi Vert’s song, “What You Saying.” She pulls off the blue glasses with a jerk and cocks her head to the side, then slips off the yellow pair – dancing all the while.

This is the same person who cut off dribble-drives in a second-half effort that shut down Minnesota in the Sweet 16, who snatched a pass that was nearly out of bounds for a layup. The same person who had incrementally increased her shooting percentage to 54.3% in her four years as a Bruin.

“When we’re having fun and we’re light, we play our best,” Jaquez said.

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The duality applies to the whole team, which has seemingly mastered compartmentalizing its fun side and its serious side, tapping into one personality or the other on command.

That ability will be tested Sunday when the top-seeded Bruins (34-1) make their second straight appearance in the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament. They’ll get a rematch with third-seeded Duke (27-8), after beating the Blue Devils 89-59 despite not having All-American center Lauren Betts on Nov. 27 in Las Vegas, at noon inside Golden 1 Center.

“Coach Wooden taught me this,” said coach Cori Close, whose Bruins have won 28 in a row. “He said, ‘The biggest form of partiality is to treat every player the same.’ That doesn’t mean the standard changes. The expectation of do your job, the expectation of preparing really, really well. But the style doesn’t always have to be the same.”

Michaela Onyenwere, a current WNBA player and UCLA assistant coach, was the first player to prove to her that work and play can coexist.

She was a bubbly freshman at UCLA in 2017, at least until she ratcheted up the intensity for games. Onyenwere smiled and danced so freely during the in-arena intro video to the point that Close was temporarily convinced that she didn’t take her craft seriously.

“If I could be free and not so stiff and so dialed in, I felt that I was better in the way that I played,” Onyenwere said. “It’s a little bit different now, being a pro. I am more locked in – but I think as a college player, I felt the way I could alleviate pressure was to just be free. Be yourself, just understand that it is a game and enjoy it from that perspective.”

Bruins graduate guard Charlisse Leger-Walker has a wide-reaching social media presence, which includes a YouTube channel with nearly 3,000 subscribers.

Some of the top-viewed videos include a trip to the batting cage with UCLA softball player Megan Grant and a journey through her ACL injury recovery. She also has an eight-part series in which she teaches roommate and teammate Gianna Kneepkens how to dance.

Leger-Walker and Kneepkens are among multiple players on the team who are projected to play in the WNBA.

“It was just kind of intentional focus when I came to UCLA,” said Leger-Walker, a New Zealand native who transferred from Washington State after the 2023-24 season and didn’t play last season because of her knee injury. “I wanted to take advantage of the resources that we have here.

“It’s also been a way to have the fun and the balance of enjoying time with each other and doing different things outside of basketball, knowing that basketball is the main thing. But it’s just been a fun way for me to connect, especially with my teammates, and make them do some fun, cool things along the way too.”

The Bruins are no strangers to dancing. Leger-Walker, Lauren Betts and Jaquez all performed with the UCLA dance team at a men’s basketball game – which is, of course, documented on Leger-Walker’s YouTube channel.

There are also the mini dance parties that happen just before game tip-offs, and former UCLA gymnastics coach Valorie Kondos-Field taught the team choreography in 2024.

Serious business opportunities can form as a result of the choreography and social media play.

College athletes have started to curate their own personal brands ever since the inception of name, image and likeness deals. LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson sets the standard for women’s basketball players with her NIL valuation of $1.5 million, and major brands are working with players across the NCAA.

Betts has partnerships with Venmo, Sprouts and NYX Cosmetics, for example, and Kiki Rice has linked up with Neutrogena, CVS and Command strips. Jaquez works with Great Clips and Buffalo Wild Wings.

“People want to know you,” Onyenwere said. “They want to get to know who you are off the court, as well. And obviously, that translates to dollars. But it’s been so cool to kind of see that transition where, it’s like, I’m not just in a box. I’m somebody who loves to do this, this and this. And I also happened to be good at basketball.”

Sometimes, the fun really is just fun. And it can be healing.

Betts, who has been open about her mental health struggles, credits the environment of UCLA for helping her stay healthy.

“When you’re not enjoying what you do, it makes it really hard,” Betts said. “But I can say, I really enjoy myself every single day because I get to be surrounded by my best friends. When you have that balance, it makes it a lot easier for you to show up and do your job and work really hard and give everything you have.”

On Sunday, UCLA’s duality will come face to face with a Duke team that is especially determined after beating second-seeded LSU on Ashlon Jackson’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer. Blue Devils coach Kara Lawson is also on a mission in her return to Sacramento, where she played with the WNBA’s Monarchs from 2003-2006.

But on Saturday, the Bruins’ levity still shined through. Leger-Walker and Kneepkens showered Close in applause when she stepped off the dais after a press conference. Then the teammates and lifelong friends took their seats under the bright lights, looked forward and addressed the game ahead.

NCAA TOURNAMENT

Who: No. 1 seed UCLA (34-1) vs. No. 3 seed Duke (27-8)

When: Noon Sunday

Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento

TV/Radio: ABC (Ch. 7)/Westwood One, UCLA Digital Radio, SiriusXM

Orange County Register

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UCLA women take balanced approach into NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight

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