Pac-12 Women's Basketball Media Day: New Guard Pairing Takes Center Stage for UCLA

Charisma Osborne and transfer Gina Conti are set to start in coach Cori Close's backcourt this season.

(Photo Courtesy of Jesus Ramirez/UCLA Athletics)

Unlike in 2020, the Bruins will have the luxury of depth in 2021, especially within the backcourt.

“I might have to learn how to sub again,” said coach Cori Close.

The taxing reality of sometimes only having six or seven players available the prior season has now provided UCLA women’s basketball something to build on while adding nine new faces into the fold. With graduate guard Gina Conti and junior guard Charisma Osborne leading the backcourt, Close will have to find minutes for the rest of her squad as well, something she did not have to do much of in 2020.

Close, Conti and Osborne were all present at Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Media Day on Tuesday, providing a first look at the Bruins and the conference as a whole.

Conti joined UCLA this summer after transferring in from Wake Forest. The 5-foot-11 guard adds playmaking versatility to the roster that may have been lost with the shorthanded lineups put out last season. The graduate transfer was named Second-Team All-ACC in 2020, averaging 4.0 assists per game as a senior.

"Coming to the Pac-12 (and) seeing two teams play and compete in the national championship game just speaks volumes to how great this conference is," Conti said. "I’m really excited to go to the different teams on the West Coast."

With the addition of Conti, Osborne has a new companion on the floor, one that could allow her to move into more of a scoring guard role with the former taking on more of the distributing duties.

“I think that Charisma really wanted that partner in the backcourt so that Charisma could be a little bit more freed up to be the scorer that she is and to maybe think more tactically and less globally in running the team," Close said. "Gina is just naturally more of a quarterback, verbal leader out on the floor.”

Osborne provided a lot of the spark for the Bruins offensively in 2020, averaging 17.0 points per game while shooting 35% from the field.

Also returning to Westwood are graduate guard Natalie Chou and redshirt senior Chandler Horvat, who filled major roles in the shorthanded rotation last season. Lindsey Corsaro played minutes as well, but she has since graduated.

Now, with the addition of graduate transfer guard Jaelynn Penn from Indiana and the return of senior guard Kiara Jefferson from opting out of the 2020 season, the Bruins have room to work with when finding minutes for the lineup from game to game.

Forward Emily Bessoir’s torn ACL, which ended her 2021-2022 campaign before it began, was the only major injury of the preseason for the Bruins. Close now plans to play a guard at the four at times during this upcoming season.

“I’ll tell you who's been a huge surprise that we've been playing at the four a lot is (redshirt senior) Kayla Owens,” Close said. “She was our leading rebounder and scorer in our first scrimmage. She's added a tremendous amount of depth to that position.”

Owens previously had been a guard on the team and is currently still listed as such, but at 6-foot-1, her length could become vital to the rotations Close puts out during Pac-12 play.

Heading towards the first game of the season on Nov. 10, the Bruins are much more comfortable depth-wise after the difficult circumstances of last season ravaged the core of the squad.

Osborne said she is looking forward to helping lead the new-look Bruins this fall, one where she knows she is going to have to fill a new role both on the court and off it.

“Honestly, I think this is just helpful for me and my leadership and trying to grow as a leader,” Osborne said. “Just leading my team and showing them the ropes and using my experience and just trying to lead my team and get us to where we want to be.”

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