UCLA Women's Basketball: Surprise Starter Details Lengthy Journey To Bruins Role

Alex Kirschenbaum | Mar 30, 2024

Mar 8, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; USC Trojans guard JuJu Watkins (12) loses the ball in front of UCLA guard Charisma Osborne (20) and forward Angela Dugalic (32). / Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

The 27-6 UCLA Bruins are on the cusp of making their first Elite Eight in six years. They just need to beat the most recent NCAA champions, the LSU Lady Tigers, in a Sweet Sixteen matchup on Saturday.

Senior starting power forward Angela Dugalić has become a crucial component of the team's attack this season. Across 29 games (28 starts), the 6'4" forward is averaging 8.9 points on .362/.330/.727 shooting splits, 6.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.6 blocks across 24.1 minutes.

According to Laura Olina Wang of The Daily Bruin, Dugalić's journey to prominence on an elite squad this season started with a journey abroad, while she was still in high school.

Ex-Serbian national player Danielle Page, now an assistant coach at Toledo, recommended that the then-17-year-old Dugalić (whose parents were born in Serbia, though she was born and raised in Chicago), take a spot on her old team.

“Everyone around me was, like, 30. Basically they’re like my moms,” Dugalić said of the experience. “I had to mature because it was a completely different environment, and I was the only kid there. The first year was very hard for me, definitely an adjustment. I was skeptical of going back, but I knew not that it wasn’t an option, but that I had to go back.”

“If you ask other coaches in the Pac-12, they really say she’s our X factor,” Close raved. “She changes how we play defensively, she changes some things that we can do offensively… She’s a real key in helping us be efficient on both sides of the ball.”

Wang writes that Dugalić seems to have benefitted from her tutelage abroad for Team Serbia, as well as her tenure at UCLA.

“Her game really fits the trajectory of where the game is going,” Close said. “That versatile four player – we call our point forward. We do have a lot of decisions that run through that four position, so credit to her and how hard she’s worked to expand that skillset.”

Dugalić’ will be using her fifth year of NCAA eligibility to stick around with the Bruins, per Wang. After that, her professional future is a bit more up in the air.

“Given some circumstances and talking to Cori and my Serbian coach, we decided that staying another year would be better,” Dugalić said. “And then next year: WNBA or Europe – I’m open to both.”