UCLA women land two local cagers

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Atonye Nyingifa of Redondo and Rebekah Gardner of Chino Hills Ayala signed with the UCLA women’s basketball team, it was announced Thursday.

Nyingifa, a 5-foot-11 guard, averaged 16.8 points and 11 rebounds last season. She is ranked as the sixth-best guard in the nation by hoopgurlz.com.

Gardner is a 5-10 guard who averaged 22.9 points, 9.1 rebounds and 4.2 steals last season while leading the Bulldogs to the Southern Section Division II-A title. Gardner was selected the Division II-A player of the year.

I watched UCLA last night in its season opener against Cal State Northridge, and the Bruins started two freshmen and a sophomore in the backcourt, so they should have great depth at those positions in the coming years.

-- Dan Arritt