Gabriela Jaquez

Jaquez played basketball for Adolfo Camarillo High School in Camarillo, California. As a senior, she averaged 34.2 points and 15.7 rebounds per game and was named Ventura County Star Player of the Year.^[1] Jaquez shared most valuable player honors in the McDonald's All-American Game with her future college teammate Kiki Rice.^[2] Rated a five-star recruit,^[3] she committed to play college basketball for UCLA over offers from Utah, Oklahoma, Washington State, and USC, among other programs.^[4]

Predicting she would play at UCLA since writing it down in third grade^[5], Jaquez had a notable career, being part of four teams that played in the NCAA tournament.^[6]

As a freshman at UCLA, Jaquez averaged 6.3 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.^[7] On November 12, 2023, she scored a career-high 30 points and 12 rebounds in a 113–64 win over Bellarmine.^[8] In her sophomore season, Jaquez averaged 10 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. She joined the UCLA softball team in the 2024 NCAA tournament, having previously played the sport in high school.^[9] Nicknamed by the Bruins "All Gas Gabs" for her hustle,^[10] Jaquez scored a run in her collegiate softball debut during the NCAA super regional.

In her junior season, she was a starter and key player for the 2024–25 Bruins team. This was the first Bruins team to advance to the NCAA Final Four, where the team lost to the eventual national champion UConn.

She was a starter for their Big Ten champion team in 2025–26 in her senior season.^[11] In the 2026 national championship game, Jaquez had a double-double with a game-high 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a 79–51 victory over South Carolina.^[12][13] She was voted to the Final Four all-tournament team.

On April 13, 2026, the Chicago Sky selected Jaquez as the fifth overall pick of the 2026 WNBA draft.^[14]

In August 2024, Jaquez made her debut for the Mexico women's national basketball team during 2026 FIBA Women's World Cup pre-qualification.^[15]

Jaquez is the daughter of Angela and Jaime Sr., who both played basketball at Concordia University. Her paternal grandfather, Ezequiel, came to California with his family from Mexico as a child and played basketball at Arizona State College (now Northern Arizona University). Her older brother, Jaime Jr., plays in the National Basketball Association for the Miami Heat and competed for the UCLA men's team in college.^[16]