No. 1 UCLA women’s basketball uniting under harsh circumstances

The No. 1 UCLA women’s basketball team, along with a handful of guests, were on a flight back from Indiana when two donors discovered that their home was at risk of being destroyed by one of the fires that had swelled in Southern California.

Players rushed to comfort the donors, swathing them in oversized hugs, as soon as they had deplaned – doing all they could to offer some sense of protection.

“That’s what Bruins do. We show up for each other,” head coach Cori Close said Friday on a Zoom call, with tears in her eyes.