According to the Times, soon-to-be Senior Lauren Holiday has committed to new head coach Cori Close and the Bruins. UCLA has established a strong defensive tradition recently under Ben Howland and Nikki Caldwell, and defense happens to be one of Holiday's strengths according to ESPN. Bringing in a skilled defender like Holiday at the guard position should help Coach Close, because if there's anything we've learned in the past couple of years on the men's side, it's that you can never have too many lockdown perimeter defenders.

More from ESPN:

Holiday is a trooper. This kid is great to have on your roster come game time because she is always active and never standing still. Her activity and enthusiasm for hard work translate into extra offensive possessions and shot opportunities created from guard-line rebounds. At the EOT, Holiday demonstrated she is a skilled guard with optimal court vision who has the speed to push tempo and create momentum. Holiday also has the savvy and know-how to slow up a halfcourt game and make a precise entry pass to her bigs.

Oh, and some of you might remember Lauren's brother Jrue from a few years back. This commitment opens up an interesting storyline, because I'm sure by now we've all heard the rumblings that one or more people in the Holiday camp weren't all that enamored with Jrue's year here under CBH. At the time, the rumors seemed plausible enough, but recently, with buzz growing stronger that certain people close to the program are poisoning the well for CBH, we may have to shift our focus and start digging to find out who the Judas is among us.

But that's neither here nor there. I like what I'm hearing about this Holiday, and I hope that this is a sign that the momentum around our women's program is picking up once again.