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UCLA is officially the No. 1 team in the AP top 25 poll for the first time in program history, a rather unsurprising development considering they upset reigning national champion South Carolina on Sunday. This is a Bruins program that missed the NCAA Tournament two years ago but has been trending upward, and now has one of the nation's deepest rosters.

"We have a lot of great, versatile players," UCLA coach Cori Close said after Sunday's win. "... We wouldn't have this if we didn't have selflessness and elite work ethic. This is my 32nd season in Division I coaching, and I've never had a team that works extra more than this team."

As South Carolina coach Dawn Staley pointed out after the Bruins handed the Gamecocks a 77-62 loss, any team's scouting report starts with 6-foot-7 center Lauren Betts. In the first five games of the season, Betts is averaging 19.4 points and 12 rebounds per game, while collecting a total of 13 blocks. But the team doesn't just rely on her when it comes to scoring, as six Bruins are averaging at least nine points per game this season.

"We have so many weapons on this team, and our bench is just so deep," Betts said. "Everyone's ready when their numbers called to go out there and make a difference in the game… And it doesn't matter who's scoring the most points at the end of the day -- we all just want to win."

The Bruins also showed they can play lockdown defense, which was on full display against South Carolina. The Gamecocks' 62 points marked their fewest scored since they tallied 59 in the Sweet 16 of the 2023 NCAA tournament -- against UCLA, coincidentally. 

UCLA came into the 2024-25 campaign with high expectations because of key returners including Betts, Kiki Rice, Gabriela Jaquez, Angela Dugalic and Londynn Jones. The start of the season saw a couple of those players in and out of the lineup, but the Bruins have managed it well. 

Jaquez missed the Colgate game on Nov. 10 because of a minor foot injury, but she is back on the court averaging nine points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Dugalic, who missed two games while representing Serbia in a FIBA Women's EuroBasket qualifiers, is one of the team's top rebounders along with Betts and Texas A&M transfer Janiah Barker.

Despite Jones not being in the starting lineup against South Carolina, she scored a team-high 15 points while going a perfect 5 of 5 from beyond the arc. In February, Jones had a career night against Utah while making seven 3-pointers.

Jones said she works on 3-point shooting every day, but she is not the only player who stands out in that area for the Bruins. Oregon State transfer Timea Gardiner, who's averaging 3.2 3-pointers per game while shooting 51.6% from distance, is also a big threat from deep.

Rice has only played two games this season because of an injury, but her absence actually led to the team to discover a powerful weapon in freshman Elina Aarnisalo, who filled in for Rice during her absence. Aarnisalo is the Bruins' second-leading scorer with 12.6 points per game on 57.8% shooting, and she has a team-high 34 assists. 

"She's incredible and I will keep hyping her up," Betts said of Aarnisalo. "Just the skill set that she has at her age, and to come in and start from the very beginning of the season. And obviously Kiki being out, she wasn't expecting that, but she kind of took on that role and just went for it. 

"She's just never intimidated by anybody… She's going through people like it's nothing. I'm like, 'Dang, it's crazy,' but she's so skilled and I'm just really proud of her."

Aarnisalo and Rice were both in the starting lineup against the Gamecocks, which Close partly attributed to how the freshman has been impacting the team. Aarnisalo had 20 assists and just one turnover in the previous two games, with Close describing her as "mature beyond her years."

As for Rice, the team got better upon her return. 

"She's just a super calm presence on the court and I just trust her with the ball in her hands," Betts said. "She's gonna make the right decision a lot of the time. So for me it's just like, 'OK, we got Kiki back. Let's go. We're back to how it should be.' … she really is the rock of our team, so I'm just so happy to have her back."

The Bruins could be adding even more depth later this season when Washington State transfer guard Charlisse Leger-Walker returns from a torn ACL she suffered on Jan. 28.

UCLA is definitely in a good spot, but Close has made it clear she doesn't want her team to get too caught up in the hype.

"Lauren said on TV that we were underrated and if you were sleeping on us, you better stop. But I'm like, 'Sleep away,'" Close said. "I think teams that fall in love with what other people define them as, they lose opportunities to get better."

Betts agreed with Close and said her team is very focused on a specific goal.

"We know what we want to do at the end of the season: we want to win a national championship," Betts said. "But I'm just taking each practice as preparation and keeping those same habits every single day so we can get to that point."