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 north twice a month for weekend practices.
Good thing she stuck with it.