UCLA Professional Athletes

Jordin Canada had a message for the doubters. She delivered it across three games.

The UCLA alumna was the engine behind Atlanta's stunning sweep of the New York Liberty in the WNBA semifinals, putting up back-to-back signature performances to send the Dream to their first WNBA Finals appearance since 2013.

Game 1: Canada Turns It On in the Second Half

Canada opened the series with a statement. She scored 25 points — 20 of them after halftime — and added five steals and a block as Atlanta forced 21 turnovers and cruised to a 92-82 win. The plus-10 showing set the tone for what would become a full-series takeover. Her second-half explosiveness left the Liberty scrambling to find answers they never quite located.

Riding the Momentum Into the Closeout

Canada kept the heat on through Games 2 and 3. In Atlanta's Game 2 win, she poured in 23 points and dished eight assists. Then came the clincher. In a tense road environment at Barclays Center, Canada authored a series-defining performance — 19 points and 11 assists in an 85-83 win that punched Atlanta's ticket to the Finals. The playmaking display drew widespread recognition, including praise from a multi-time NBA All-Star on social media, who cited Canada's command of the game as elite-level craft.

Canada herself had spoken after Game 1 about feeling counted out. By the final buzzer Friday night, that narrative was fully rewritten.

The Other Side of the Bracket

Not every Bruin had reason to celebrate. Rebekah Gardner, the UCLA product on the Liberty's roster, was on the losing end of all three games. Gardner managed 3 points and an assist in Game 2 but was largely kept off the scoresheet in the series, finishing with a minus-6 in the Game 1 loss and a minus-5 in Game 2. New York's collapse — swept by a team many overlooked — makes for a difficult offseason reflection for the Liberty side of the ledger.

Canada's Moment

The broader story here is the arc. Canada, a two-time WNBA champion with Seattle, has always been regarded as one of the league's premier defensive guards and floor generals. But this playoff run — 25 points and five steals in a series opener, followed by a 19-point, 11-assist series-closer — is the kind of defining stretch that cements legacies. She heads into the WNBA Finals as one of the most dangerous guards left standing.

For UCLA fans, the Finals couldn't come soon enough. Canada's Bruins roots are showing up on the biggest stage women's basketball has to offer.

Jordin Canada Is Carrying Atlanta When It Matters Most

With the WNBA playoffs looming, Jordin Canada is making the most convincing case for her value that she's ever put on tape.

The UCLA product delivered her signature performance of the season on Tuesday, September 22, going for 19 points, 9 assists, and 3 steals in Atlanta's 95-84 win over the New York Liberty — a result that pushed the Dream (29-14) firmly into top-four seed contention. Then, just two days later, she followed it up with 12 points, 5 assists, and a blistering +21 plus-minus in a 83-65 dismantling of New York on Thursday, snapping the Liberty's three-game winning streak in emphatic fashion.

A feature piece in The Sporting News has already dubbed Canada the Dream's "unsung hero," and the numbers bear that out. Canada does her most important work in the details — running the offense with efficiency, creating for others, and locking down on the defensive end — the kind of contributions that don't always leap off a box score but absolutely show up in the win column. With a top-4 seed potentially secured by a second win over New York or an Indiana stumble, Canada is the engine keeping Atlanta's postseason push on track at exactly the right moment.

Gabriela Jaquez Shines for Chicago

On the opposite end of the playoff landscape, UCLA rookie Gabriela Jaquez gave Chicago Sky fans something to feel good about during a rough stretch. On Wednesday, September 23, she poured in 18 points to help the Sky snap a five-game losing streak with a 97-85 win over the Toronto Tempo. She added 8 points and 4 rebounds in Thursday's follow-up loss to Washington, though that +/- of -18 reflected the team result more than her individual effort.

Jaquez also drew some attention midweek after a tense on-court exchange with Rhyne Howard during the Dream-Sky matchup generated buzz on social media — a sign that the rookie is already commanding notice league-wide.

Kiki Rice Battles on a Tough Toronto Squad

Kiki Rice is putting up numbers for the Tempo even as the wins aren't coming. The UCLA guard torched Connecticut for 28 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 steals on Thursday in a 95-81 loss — a performance that would have headlined a winning effort on any other night. She also contributed 9 points and 7 assists in Wednesday's 85-97 loss to Chicago and 19 points in Sunday's blowout loss to New York. Rice is logging meaningful minutes and producing; the Tempo's record just isn't reflecting it.

Lauren Betts and the Mystics Keep Rolling

Lauren Betts had a quiet but productive week for Washington, posting 8 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists in Thursday's 101-93 win over Chicago, adding to solid outings earlier in the week. The Mystics knocked off the Indiana Fever 93-77 on Sunday — a result notable enough that broadcasters highlighted a specific Caitlin Clark-Betts matchup during the broadcast. Betts also made fashion headlines ahead of Washington's final regular-season home game, though her real statement has been on the floor.

Around the Rest of the Bruins

Charlisse Leger-Walker had a standout Sunday outing — 10 points and 8 assists for Connecticut — before quieter finishes to the week. Gianna Kneepkens was efficient on Thursday with 12 points and a +17 in the Sun's win over Toronto. Charisma Osborne chipped in 11 points and a +19 for Portland on Wednesday. Kennedy Burke was listed as out in the Sun's injury report through the period. And Rebekah Gardner, getting minutes for New York, faced a rough week as the Liberty dropped two straight to Atlanta.

The WNBA's post-FIBA break resumption gave UCLA's deep alumni contingent plenty of opportunities to remind the league what Westwood produces — and several Bruins delivered in a big way.

Kiki Rice Is Toronto's Brightest New Thing

The headline act was Rice, the Toronto Tempo rookie who has turned enough heads to crack the upper tier of CBS Sports' weekly rookie rankings. On Friday, Sep. 18, Rice put up 18 points, 5 assists, and 6 rebounds against Indiana — an all-around line that encapsulates why Toronto is increasingly bullish on her long-term ceiling. The Tempo lost 103-85, but Rice's performance stood out as the kind of showing that separates promising prospects from legitimate building blocks. CBS Sports noted that her late-season play has the entire franchise energized about what comes next.

Jordin Canada Runs Atlanta's Offense to Perfection

If Rice is the future, Canada is the present doing its best work. The Dream guard turned in a near-flawless performance Saturday, Sep. 19, posting 11 points, 10 assists, and 2 steals in Atlanta's dominant 106-81 win over Chicago. A plus-minus of +11 in a blowout tells the quieter story: Canada wasn't just padding her assist total — she was orchestrating a complete team effort. Double-digit assists for a guard in a convincing home win is a statement game, and Canada delivered it at exactly the right moment of the season.

Lauren Betts Continues to Make an Impression

The 6-foot-7 Washington Mystics rookie has had a week both on and off the court. In Friday's 110-80 demolition of Chicago, Betts contributed 9 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and a block — a quietly efficient outing that continued her steady development. The Sporting News also spotlighted her pre-game tunnel appearance as the WNBA returned from the FIBA break, a sign that Betts is already becoming a recognizable presence in the league's broader conversation.

Gabriela Jaquez Finds the Scoresheet Amid Tough Losses

Chicago's Gabriela Jaquez had a mixed week. She scored 10 points Friday in a 30-point blowout loss to Washington and followed it with 14 points, 2 steals, and 3 rebounds Saturday in another lopsided defeat — a 106-81 loss to Atlanta. Her individual production is real; the team context around it remains difficult.

Burke Sidelined; Connecticut Struggles

The week brought a sobering note for Kennedy Burke, who joined a growing list of WNBA players dealing with World Cup-related injuries. The Sun forward's shoulder injury, sustained during the FIBA break, clouds her availability at a critical stretch of the season. Her Connecticut teammates Charlisse Leger-Walker and Gianna Kneepkens were on the floor Thursday in a brutal 103-59 loss to Atlanta — Leger-Walker finished with 4 points and 3 assists while Kneepkens went scoreless — but the Sun's depth situation looks increasingly strained with Burke out.

Elsewhere, Rebekah Gardner chipped in 2 points and a +5 plus-minus in New York's 93-81 win over Minnesota on Friday, and Angela Dugalic logged 2 points and 2 rebounds off the bench in Washington's rout of Chicago.

With the regular season entering its final stretch, UCLA's WNBA footprint is hard to ignore — from Rice's ascending rookie arc in Toronto to Canada running the show in Atlanta.