The UCLA women’s basketball program has achieved remarkable success over the years, making them a dominant force in collegiate basketball. The program constantly develops and produces star players who go on to have successful basketball careers. This season, the Bruins are off to a hot 15-2 start with the potential to win the Pac-12 conference championship and make a deep run in the NCAA March Madness Tournament. The team’s secret to success is sophomore guard Londynn Jones.
Jones has been a pivotal player for the Bruins offensively and defensively. On offense, she averages 12.6 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 2.1 assists playing for 26.2 minutes. On defense, she averages 1.2 steals and 0.2 blocks. The most improved component of Jones’ game is her field goal percentage. This season, her field goal percentage is 39 percent compared to last year’s 36.2 percent average.
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The biggest UCLA performance for the Riverside native is leading her team to a crosstown rivalry victory over USC 71-64 this season. Jones scored 21 points for the Bruins. She made eight out of 12 shots, including five out of eight three-pointers, one being a crucial, final three-point shot in the fourth quarter. Jones contributed the highest number of rebounds in her career during the win over the Trojans and was also named UCLA Student-Athlete of the Week according to UCLA Athletics (Dec. 25-Jan. 1). This is Jones’s first honor this season and her second Student-Athlete of the Week honor in her career.
Prior to attending UCLA, Jones was a standout at Centennial High School of Corona and a member of the USA Basketball Women’s National Team. She was a four-star recruit ranked fifth in her position and 22nd overall in the 2022 recruiting class according to ESPN. Jones scored 2,713 points in her high school career. She also won 2019 Wooden Award Girls’ High School Player of the Year for CIFSS Division III after leading her previous school Santiago High to a state title. Jones was named team MVP all four years and received 2022 WBCA High School Coaches’ All-America honorable mention.
Jones also won two gold medals with the Women’s USA National Team in 2019 and 2022. She played on the National Team with Bruins sophomore guard Kiki Rice. Playing together helped the Bruins make it to the Sweet Sixteen in the 2023 NCAA Women’s Tournament. This is the first time the program has achieved this since the 2018-19 season. The two believe their chemistry created on Team USA helped them transition successfully to playing at UCLA. Rice and Jones reflected on their past and current experiences on the USA National Team website (usab.com)
“To be able to experience summer workouts and first practices with someone I already knew so well and had gone through so much with was really helpful because we were both adjusting,” Rice said. “We were able to feed off of each other and talk to each other.”
“We’re around each other so much, always building and growing with each other. It’s very easy to play with her because I know what she’s good at and she knows what I’m good at. We set each other up for success,” Jones said.
