UCLA's Close has mutual respect with Sacramento State's Campbell
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Today: Sacramento State at UCLA, Greenville 1 Regional first round,
8:30 p.m., ESPN2
to make the most of its first appearance in the NCAA tournament and fourth-seeded UCLA (259) is eager to be dancing again.
UCLA senior guard Cam Brown said this feels like the first true NCAA tournament for many players on the team. The Bruins played in the WNIT last season and COVID-19 drastically affected the 2021 NCAA tournament.
The Bruins also have a healthy starting lineup and bench this season, which is perhaps the biggest difference from last season.
“Being able to look on the bench and actually know you have subs coming is an amazing feeling,” Brown said. “We've been able to play this whole season rotating a good majority of our entire team. So we're used to all playing with each other. We're used to different lineups.”
Redshirt sophomore Emily Bessoir missed last season due to a torn ACL and has come back to be a valuable starter and key cog. She is the third-leading scorer at 9.4 ppg and averages a team-best 5.8 rebounds per game.
“I'm just so grateful to be out there,” she said. “I didn't know I would feel this way two years ago about basketball. But now that I'm able to play, I'm just glad for every opportunity that we get.”
Senior Charisma Osborne leads the team in scoring (15.5 ppg) and has played the most minutes of any Pac-12 player with 1,089. Freshman Kiki Rice is second on the team in both scoring (11.7 ppg) and assists (106).
Sacramento State is on a nine-game winning streak heading into tonight's game and is led by Kahlaijah Dean and Isnelle Natabou.
Dean is the Big Sky Conference Player of the Year and averaged 21.1 points in the conference tournament. Natabou is averaging 15.8 ppg on 64.2% shooting. As a team, the Hornets are the fourth-best 3-point shooting team in the nation at 38.64%.
“We're here to win,” Campbell said. “That's been the goal. We're 32 games into the season. It's a business trip and we're preparing and going to do everything we can to try to find a way to scrap out a win.”
The winner of tonight's game will face the winner of the game between fifth-seeded Oklahoma or No. 12 seed Portland on Monday at Pauley Pavilion. Although there's love and respect between Close and Campbell off the court, each desperately wants to get to that second-round game.
“Make no mistake about it, it doesn't make me want to beat him any less,” Close said. “I don't care if I'm playing ping pong. I'm gonna want to win. That's my job.”