Jaquez nets 29 with newfound stroke to lift the Bruins

She finds hot hand early as No. 3 UCLA gets 99-77 win over No. 14 Tennessee.

- BY BEN BOLCH

LAUREN BETTS (51) had seven points, four rebounds and two blocks in her return from a one-game absence.

(LUIZA MORAES Getty Images)

It might seem hard to imagine, watching the pure stroke and true form that provides Gabriela Jaquez such steady success from beyond the three-point arc.

But there was a time when Jaquez’s long-range shooting was the part of her game that gave UCLA women’s basketball coach Cori Close hesitancy in offering a scholarship.

Eager to prove herself, Jaquez tirelessly toiled at a park during the pandemic, getting up one shot after another. She joined a club team based in Oakland, flying twice a month for practices. Good thing she stuck with it.

Jaquez earned that scholarship and is fully flourishing in her senior season, her all-around brilliance powering the No. 3 Bruins to a 99-77 victory over No. 14 Tennessee on Sunday before a small but spirited crowd at Pauley Pavilion.