UCLA Women's Basketball: ESPN Power Rankings List Bruins Among Top 5 Best 2024 Teams

Cori Close has made some compelling new additions to her squad this offseason.

Mar 30, 2024; Albany, NY, USA; LSU Tigers guard Mikaylah Williams (12) shoots a layup against UCLA / Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

Following a second straight run to the Sweet Sixteen this past spring, the 2024-25 UCLA Bruins are expected to be among the top title contenders in next spring's March Madness contest.

Though Cori Close's club has lost four-time All-Pac-12 guard Charisma Osborne to the 2024 WNBA Draft (she'll ply her wares for the Phoenix Mercury this summer, assuming she isn't waived), the team has compensated by adding two of the top transfers of the offseason, ex-Washington State Cougars guard Charlisse Leger-Walker and former forward Oregon State forward Timea Gardiner.

Charlie Creme of ESPN ranks the Bruins as the fifth-best club in the land heading into next year. He had ranked them at sixth in his most recent list.

"Next season's Bruins might not look exactly the same, but they'll be familiar to Pac-12 fans since two of the conference's top transfers are headed to Westwood," writes Creme. "Charlisse Leger-Walker has been one of the West Coast's best point guards for the past four seasons at Washington State and will step right into the hole left by the graduation of Charisma Osborne. Timea Gardiner, who announced Wednesday she was headed to UCLA, improved to 11.6 points, 7.0 rebounds per game and 39.5% 3-point shooting as a 6-3 sophomore at Oregon State. This is one year after [center] Lauren Betts jumped from Stanford to UCLA and is now the cornerstone of Cori Close's program along with [point guard] Kiki Rice. Betts (14.9 PPG, 9.3 RPG, 64.3 FG%) was dominant at times this season and is good enough to be the best player on a championship team."

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